A Kent man who was part of a gang which brutally murdered a teenager at a park has been jailed for life.

Jason Smith, 20, was one of six to be sentenced after 17-year-old Michael Jonas was lured to a green space and fatally wounded.

It took the group just 120 seconds to inflict devastating injuries on Michael at Betts Park in Bromley in 2017.

Today, Smith, of Bow Arrow Lane, Dartford, was sentenced to a minimum of 12-and-a-half years in prison.

Nyron Jean Baptiste, of Queen Adelaide Road in Penge, Divon Henry-Campbell, of Fayland Avenue in Streatham, Sarraviho Smith, of Grove Hill Road in Camberwell, Jamie Marshall, of Burham Close, Penge, and Ryan Girense Brown, of Sydenham Road, Croydon, were all also jailed for life.

Jean Baptiste, 23, will serve a minimum of 31 years. He was arrested in Gravesend and jailed back in 2019 for killing a 15-year-old boy after attacking him with a machete.

Henry-Campbell, also 23, will serve a minimum of 18 years, Sarraviho Smith, 24, will serve a minimum of 17 years, while Marshall, 22, and Brown, 21, will spend at least 13 years and 12 years locked up.

Police were called to the park on November 2, 2017, to reports of a stabbing. Paramedics arrived but the young man died at the scene. His cause of death was later given as stab wounds to the chest.

Michael was approached by the group in nearby Anerley Road at around 7pm before they all walked through the park together.

Around 12 minutes later John-Baptiste was captured arriving at the scene – phone analysis later showed he had been called to come to the area by Henry-Campbell.

Just three minutes later, by 7.15pm, all of the defendants were seen fleeing the park on bicycles.

DNA from bloodstains at the scene was also found to be one billion times more likely to be from Jean-Baptiste than from an unknown and unrelated individual.

None of the group ever admitted responsibility or provided any reason for their actions however the court heard that they had believed Michael was a “snitch” and so carried out their fatal attack.

By early December 2017, all six defendants had been arrested and charged. The case was dropped by the CPS the following year, but charges were reinstated in October 2022 when new evidence was found.

Michael Jonas Senior praised the Met Police’s detective team for their work on the six-year investigation – including detective constable Becky Pitcher.

He said: “The murder team detectives worked tirelessly to successfully gain these convictions. Even though the case was complicated and lasted more than six years, they never gave up.

“My relationship with the police has not always been easy and even at the beginning of the investigation I was wary and distrustful.

“But from the day Michael died, Becky has been there every step of the way. She has answered our questions, guided us through the court process and most of all reassured us that her team weren’t ever going to give up.

“She has become part of our family and we will never forget everything she has done for us.”

DC Pitcher added: “Michael was just 17 when he was fatally stabbed in a violent, pre-planned attack.

“His family are devastated by his loss but have shown the utmost courage and bravery to keep fighting for justice. They have come to court every day and had to relive what was the most horrendous night of their lives.

“Their lives will never be the same, but we know how important it is to them that those responsible will now be spending a significant amount of time behind bars.”