A 28-year-old has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder in Greenwich.
Michael Bowden , 28, of Bermondsey was convicted yesterday (20 April) of the murder of 25-year-old Paul Martin in Greenwich on 29 March 2009.
At the Old Bailey today (21 April), Bowden was sentenced to life with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 22 years.
Police were called at approx 02:15hrs to reports of a fight in Greenwich Church Street. On arrival police found a man suffering stab wounds, he was taken to KingsCollegeHospital where he died later that morning.
He was 25-year-old Paul Russell Martin, a father of two young children from Greenwich.
On the night of the murder Paul had been out with his girlfriend and another couple in Greenwich. The group had started the evening by having a meal at a restaurant before going to a nightclub. When they left the club the group were standing on Greenwich Church Street waiting for a friend to pick them up and take them home.
As they were waiting a man, who was later identified as Michael Bowden, came out of a nearby phone box and started verbally abusing Paul for no reason and moved to attack him. Paul's friend tried to intervene by standing between Paul and Bowden and as he did so Bowden kept lunging at Paul as if he was punching him.
During the attack Bowden shouted to the friend to 'move your girlfriend out of the way' before lunging at Paul again who put his arms up to try and block him. The incident only lasted a minute before Bowden ran off from the scene towards Roan Street. It was at this point that Paul's friends realised he had been stabbed and that he was bleeding profusely from his face, neck and chest. Paul was trying to talk to his friend but soon lost consciousness.
Paul's friend's tried to stem the blood loss as best they could before the ambulance arrived but he sadly died later that morning in hospital despite having undergone emergency surgery. The Post Mortem gave cause of death as massive blood loss caused by stab wounds to the neck and chest. In total Paul had been stabbed five times.
Detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command launched a murder enquiry and initial enquiries were made in relation to calls from the phone box that Bowden had used prior to the attack. Information came back that showed that three calls had been made at 02:10hrs to a number registered to a woman.
Further enquiries led the team to an ex-boyfriend of this woman and he was identified as a potential suspect. As a result officers executed search warrants at an address in Rotherhithe in an attempt to arrest him. He was not at the address when officers went in but a quantity of drugs believed to be cocaine were found and a man who was on the premises at the time was arrested.
He was not the ex-boyfriend but the current boyfriend of the woman and this turned out to be Michael Bowden. He was initially arrested at 1800hrs for possession of the drugs but during the search he volunteered that he was the current boyfriend of this woman and that he was drinking in a pub and had a curry in Rotherhithe on the Saturday evening.
However when officers viewed CCTV images and the description of the suspect given by witnesses it matched Bowden. Also, when further phone data had been analysed it indicated that Bowden had been in contact with the woman earlier the same day from other telephone kiosks. In light of all this Bowden was further arrested for the murder.
Bowden was interviewed and made no comment to all questions put. Further information showed that Bowden's girlfriend had gone to the Greenwich area with a male friend on the night of the murder and police believe that Bowden went there in an effort to find her. That is why he was on Church Street and why he was so agitated.
Positive identifications were subsequently made of Michael Bowden by Paul's friends as being the attacker and he was charged with murder on 8 April 2009.
Detective Inspector Chris Stanley from the Met's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said:
'I am pleased that the jury has returned a guilty verdict and that this thug, Michael Bowden, is going to jail for the brutal and unprovoked murder of Paul Martin. I would like to pay tribute to Paul's family who have shown such dignity and courage throughout the whole terrible ordeal.
"Paul leaves behind two young children and the family has been utterly devastated by the senseless way in which Paul died. I would like to thank all of the witnesses who gave evidence at the trial and who have helped bring Bowden to justice. I would also like to thank all of the officers on this case for their hard work and dedication.'"
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