‘I can’t let this slide’: how a break-up led to Croydon teenager’s murder
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Elianne Andam was stabbed to death by Hassan Sentamu, a friend’s ex-boyfriend, after dispute outside shopping centre in Croydon. Elianne Andam was known, above all, for her caring nature. During her memorial service, her father recounted an evening when she found six snails flushed out on the pavement due to the rain. She picked up the “slimy creatures” and moved them out of harm’s way so they would not die prematurely. “Oh, the irony,” her father said.
![[Elianne Andam]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d4d804818b53cb8080178d85cd0e27493fd801f4/0_0_849_849/master/849.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
On 27 September 2023, Andam stood up for her friend, who had recently broken up with her boyfriend. They met Hassan Sentamu, who was 17 at the time, to exchange items. Her friend handed a bag to Sentamu but he failed to hand over her items, including a teddy bear she wanted back.
![[A headshot of Hassan Sentamu issued by police]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5cbb76eefa0d31f8db9ba20a02f44d102e01dae8/0_183_4534_4535/master/4534.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Andam ran behind him and snatched the bag back. Sentamu chased after her and pulled out a 12cm kitchen knife out from under his hoodie. He stabbed Andam in the neck in front of horrified onlookers, including the 15-year-old’s friends, outside the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon, south London.
Her friend recounted the horrific scene in court. She said: “I just saw Elianne on the floor, like backing up on the floor with her hand out like this, basically saying ‘stop, stop, stop’ and I’m pretty sure I saw him bend and like try and do something else, like stab her again.”.
Sentamu fled the scene but he was arrested 90 minutes later. The officer who arrested him said he believed what he “saw was a smear of blood on his thumb”. After the attack Andam was comforted by a bus driver, who held her hand and told her that she would be OK as she slipped out of consciousness. She died at the scene.
