Leyton News Walthamstow

‘Reckless’ trio jailed after killing man in robbery gone wrong

They believed they could commit the ‘perfect crime’
By Victoria Munro

(left to right) Cyrus, Farquhar and Parker (credit: Northampton Police)
(left to right) Cyrus, Farquhar and Parker (credit: Northampton Police)

A trio of “reckless” Waltham Forest criminals who killed a man in a robbery gone wrong were jailed yesterday.

Jordan Parker, Calum Farquhar and Joel Cyrus, all in their 20s, drove more than 70 miles to Northampton to steal cannabis plants from their victim’s house in December last year.

Unfortunately, 33-year-old Christopher Allbury-Burridge was at home at the time and was stabbed in the chest by Parker, after which the group fled and left him to bleed out.

On 29th November, Walthamstow 25-year-old Parker and Leyton 24-year-old Farquhar were both handed a life sentence, with a minimum term of 26 years.

Cyrus, a Leyton 26-year-old who a jury decided was the only member of the gang without a weapon, was jailed for 14 years.

Speaking after the sentence, Detective Chief Inspector Joe Banfield said the thoughts of Northampton Police were “first and foremost” with Christopher’s grieving family.

He said: “Christopher was a much-loved, family-oriented man and no sentence will ever make up for his loss. However, I hope that knowing those who caused his death will spend so long in prison is of some small comfort to his loved ones.

“These four men deliberately targeted Christopher’s home thinking to commit the perfect crime, which could never be reported. They were reckless in the force they were prepared to use to benefit themselves, and tragically Christopher paid with his life. 

“Now they will rightly spend a significant proportion of their own in jail, where I hope they reflect and atone for their actions.”

He previously described how the killers, who had “targeted others in this way before” and took several trips to scope out Christopher’s home before striking, had become “overconfident”.

During his short life, Christopher worked as a carer at a mental health hospital, teaching English to children in Ethiopia and for a charity supporting vulnerable people into independent living.

Sentenced alongside the trio was their Norwich accomplice Rakeem Leandre, who also received a life sentence with a minimum term of 26 years.


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