Teenager who killed Northampton's Louis Ryan Menezes will challenge length of sentence at Court of Appeal this Friday

A teenager who was jailed for nine years for killing Northampton's Louis Ryan Menezes will challenge the length of his sentence at the Court of Appeal this Friday.

Amari Smith, formerly of Penfold Close, stabbed 17-year-old Louis Ryan Menezes in the heart in a sudden confrontation on Drayton Walk, Kingsthorpe, in May 2018.

Smith, who was 18 when he was jailed, was convicted of manslaughter in September last year and sentenced to nine years and four months in a youth detention centre.

Now, Smith will appeal to have his sentence reduced at the Court of Appeal in London this Friday (August 19), which is understood to be on the basis that the nine-year sentence was "excessive".

Mr John Lloyd-Jones QC, who prosecuted Smith at his trial in 2019, is understood to be returning to appear on behalf of the prosecution to challenge the appeal.

In 2019, a jury found that Smith - who was 17 at the time - killed Louis Ryan Menezes in a sudden confrontation on Drayton Walk.

The two boys had previously argued with each other over "some comments made on social media", and witnesses described how they "got in each others' faces".

But the verbal argument turned deadly when Smith pulled out a hidden kitchen knife and stabbed Louis once in the heart before running form the street.

Louis, now fatally injured, was helped to a nearby staircase by a friend but died soon after. He was 17.

Smith later told the jury he believed Louis was about to stab him first, and evidence proved Louis had his own knife tucked into his waistband when he died.

But in sentencing, Her Honour Judge Adrienne Lucking called the attack a "genuine but mistaken and unreasonable" belief that he was defending himself.

The judge said: "I am sure that what you did in stabbing Louis Menezes once to the chest went beyond the use of reasonable force."

Immediately afterwards, Smith fled the scene and was able to successfully dispose of his clothes and the knife, which have never been recovered.

The sentencing comes after Smith was acquitted of murder in August but unanimously convicted of manslaughter by a jury.

Louis Ryan Menezes, 17, was an aspiring motorbike mechanic and had been in Northampton that weekend to spend a night with his friends.

When his family last saw him, the teenager was "bubbly and happy" and looking forward to his weekend.

His last words to his mother Cheri, who dropped him off in Drayton Walk just hours before the stabbing, were: "I love you, mum."

The court heard that the starting point of Smith's sentence before mitigating factors would have been one of 14 years - the highest category of prison term available for manslaughter.