Two men have been convicted for their role in the fatal stabbing of Kai Davis in Kingston on Saturday, 21 August 2021.

Joseph Barker, 23 of Clifton Gardens, Uxbridge, was found guilty of manslaughter while Ben Myles, 24 of North End Road, Southall, was found guilty of murder following a trial at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 14 October.

Detective Inspector Mike Nolan, Specialist Crime South, said: "My thoughts today are with Kai's family and friends who continue to try and come to terms with this tragic and unnecessary incident which resulted in the death of a young man with his whole life to live.

"That night Myles secured a knife during a night out. Why do that unless you plan to hurt someone? Singling Kai out as the target of his violence, he swiftly concocted a plan - dressing in such a way as to attempt to avoid detection."

On the night of the murder, 22-year-old Kai had been out in Epsom with a friend. On their way home they decided to drive via Kingston. Parking up on Fife Road they spent some time getting food and chatting to people as they left the nearby Pryzm nightclub.

Barker and Myles had spent the night inside the club and came out at around 3.15am. It is believed they spotted Kai and his friend, and Barker made a plan to attack him.

Given the nightclub's strict security process, it is clear Myles and Barker did not carry knives into the venue, so must have secured them after they left.

Both were seen to place hooded jumpers belonging to two others over their own clothes placing the hoods up, presumably in an effort to conceal their faces from view.

They then approached Kai and Myles produced a knife and stabbed him in the chest. Kai attempted to run from the scene, chased by Barker, but collapsed just minutes later outside the Premier Inn on Wheatfield Street. Managing to get up he walked a short distance before falling outside the Travel Lodge.

Kai Davis was fatally stabbed in Kingston on Saturday, 21 August 2021.

Medics from the nightclub and officers who had been called to the scene tended to Kai prior to the arrival of London Ambulance Service who administered treatment before he was flown by air ambulance to St George's Hospital. Tragically, he was later pronounced dead.

Following an investigation launched by Specialist Crime South, analysis of CCTV resulted in the identifying of the missing murder weapon and its location, which was later retrieved from a drain where Myles had dumped it after the murder.

Both Myles and Barker were arrested on 1 September. At Myles' home address officers found a knife concealed within a pile of jumpers.

In court Myles attempted to argue that the knife used during the murder had in fact belonged to Kai and that he had simply wrestled it from him in fear for his life. But Barker was also seen to be in possession of a knife and after the stabbing Myles took great care to dispose of the weapon, throwing it down the drain on a quiet street.