A gangster who inflicted catastrophic brain injuries on an innocent student he wrongly identified as a rival has been handed a 27-year prison sentence after investigators uncovered disturbing footage of him bragging about the severity of the attack within hours of the assault.
Richard Sivanda, 23, left his 20-year-old victim requiring permanent assisted living care following the February 2024 stabbing in Archway, north London, which resulted from the defendant’s mistaken belief he was confronting someone connected to a 2021 murder.
The young man now faces a lifetime unable to function independently after Sivanda drove a blade into his skull with such ferocity it penetrated brain tissue, causing irreversible neurological damage that forced his transfer to specialist accommodation.
Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how Sivanda spotted his target walking along Highgate Hill with his girlfriend on the evening of 15 February last year and immediately challenged the couple—neither of whom had ever encountered the attacker previously—demanding to know the man’s affiliations.
When the pair attempted to leave, Sivanda pursued them before launching his frenzied assault. CCTV captured the moment he closed distance and delivered multiple stab wounds as bystanders desperately tried to drag him away from his victim, who somehow reached hospital in critical condition to receive emergency intervention.
Metropolitan Police detectives subsequently discovered a livestream recording made just hours after the attack showing Sivanda, his face obscured by a digital filter, boasting to an online audience. “I’m not gonna lie, I probably touched his brain,” he declared, dismissing suggestions from off-camera voices that he had merely struck his victim’s cheek.
Officers arrested Sivanda 29 hours later, with bodycam footage capturing his complaint that he had university classes in six hours. “You won’t be going to uni today,” police informed him.
The defendant pleaded guilty to assault with intention to cause serious harm but denied attempted murder, prompting a jury trial that concluded with his conviction on 14 January.
Detective Chief Inspector Gemma Alger, who led the investigation, condemned Sivanda’s “particularly brazen conduct” in publicly celebrating the lasting damage inflicted. “A victim of mistaken identity, this case shows how gang violence can spill out further onto our streets,” she stated, noting hospitalizations from stabbings have decreased 29 per cent over five years despite continued concerns about serious violence.
