Three men have pleaded not guilty to murdering filmmaking student Finbar Sullivan, who was fatally stabbed during a brawl at the Primrose Hill viewpoint in north London. The 21-year-old died after being kicked, punched, and stabbed in the thigh in the early evening of Tuesday, 7 April.
Defendants Appear in Court
Ernest Boateng, 25, Alexis Bidace, 25, and Oliuwadamilola Ogunyankinnu, 27, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday for a plea hearing before Judge Mark Dennis KC. Speaking by videolink from Belmarsh and Isis prisons, each confirmed their identity and entered not guilty pleas to three charges: murder, manslaughter, and violent disorder.
According to the prosecution, emergency services were alerted to a fight involving young males on the evening of the attack. Mr Sullivan had entered Primrose Hill at 6.25pm and joined friends before allegedly being surrounded by a group of attackers.
Alleged Attack Details
The court heard that Boateng allegedly kicked Mr Sullivan, taking out his legs and causing him to fall to the ground. Bidace and Ogunyankinnu are then alleged to have punched and kicked him. Another unnamed male, armed with a knife, allegedly stabbed Mr Sullivan in the thigh, causing an “unsurvivable” injury.
All three defendants, from Enfield, north London, were remanded into custody. Judge Dennis set a further case management hearing for 25 September, ahead of a trial scheduled for 5 April 2027.
Victim Remembered
Mr Sullivan, known as Fin to his friends, was a student at the London Screen Academy. His father, Christopher Sullivan, 65, told the Daily Mail that his son had gone to Primrose Hill to test a new camera he received for his 21st birthday. “This is the worst tragedy I could ever imagine,” he said. “He’s my only son… I had him when I was 45. He can never be replaced. He’d just bought a new camera, we all chipped in for his 21st birthday, and he took it up there to do a bit of filming.”
Mr Sullivan aspired to become a cinematographer like his New Zealand grandfather, Michael Seresin, who shot Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and several Alan Parker films.
