A MAN WHO brutally assaulted his pregnant ex-girlfriend and killed their unborn son has been jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 16 years.
Kevin Wilson, 21, a teaching assistant, of Stansfield House, Longfield Estate, Bermondsey in south London had previously been convicted of child destruction and grievous bodily harm with intent on Malorie Bantala after planning the attack because he did not want to be a father.
On June 15, a heavily pregnant Malorie Bantala was approached by two men who appeared out of the bushes wearing motorbike crash helmets when she was walking down Talfourd Place, Peckham in south-east London.
They pushed her to the ground and continually kicked and stamped on her stomach.
Bantala, who was 32 weeks pregnant, was rushed to King’s College Hospital but her unborn baby boy could not be saved and was stillborn by emergency C-section. Malorie, aged 21, needed life-saving surgery to control bleeding from a major artery and also suffered fractures to her right hand as she tried to protect her stomach during the attack.
The court heard Bantala and Wilson had begun a short relationship in the summer of 2011 while at university. After they split up they stayed on good terms, occasionally seeing each other.
In December 2014, she discovered she was pregnant and told Wilson over the phone. He said he was not ready for a child. Malorie decided she wanted to keep the baby and informed Wilson who responded: “Why are you doing this to me?”
Two days later Wilson arranged for Malorie to have a consultation at an abortion clinic in Blackfriars. She was asked what treatment she wanted and explained she thought she was there just to discuss the options.
Wilson was angry as they left together, saying he could not have a child and urging Malorie to do him a “favour” by terminating the pregnancy. Malorie said he could just leave but he replied that it wasn’t an option and she needed to get rid of the baby. He called her selfish and a bitch.
They met again a few days later where Wilson tried again over dinner to persuade Malorie to have an abortion. Their relationship deteriorated. Wilson began denying he was the father, even after Malorie informed his mother.
Two weeks later, on 25 May, Wilson made his first call to a 17-year-old he recruited to help in the assault. From then, there were regular telephone calls between the pair up until the day of the attack on Malorie.
Assaulted on walk home
On Sunday, 14 June, Malorie went to buy supplies for a baby shower she was planning and noticed two males wearing motorbike helmets sitting on some railings close to her home. Other neighbours also spotted the males in the area throughout that day.
The prosecution suggested the pair were carrying out a ‘recce’ in preparation for the attack on Malorie.
Two men wearing the same crash helmets were seen in the area from around 4pm on the day Malorie was assaulted, although Wilson was not one of them, having been caught on CCTV leaving work elsewhere and returning to his home address.
However, the prosecution said Wilson and the 17-year-old then travelled to Peckham, loitering in the area for some time before carrying out the attack.
Malorie immediately recognised one of her attackers as Wilson and called out his name as he made off, causing him to turn and look back at her.
Wilson, learning he was wanted, attended Walworth police station on 16 June 2015 and was arrested.
A 17-year-old from the Bermondsey area recruited by Wilson to help in the assault was also found guilty at the Old Bailey of child destruction and GBH and today, Thursday 11 February, given an extended 14 year sentence; 10 years in custody and four years on licence.
The judge lifted reporting restrictions and he can be named as Taffari Grant, 17, of Fairby House, Longfield Estate, Bermondsey.
Searches of his home and the surrounding area found two motorbike helmets, one in a communal bin. A registration document showed he had owned a scooter, but he claimed he had since sold it on. Police later disproved this and also his alibi that he was out for a meal with relatives at the time of the attack.
Both defendants were subsequently charged.
‘I’ll never get to see him smile’
In a victim impact statement Malorie Bantala said: “I feel like I’m the only person who feels that I’m not the victim, the real victim of this attack is my son Joel; an innocent baby who did nothing bad to anyone.
“Joel never got to meet me properly, he’ll never know how much I love him, I’ll never get to see him smile, see his first set of teeth, watch him struggle as he learns to crawl or watch him take his first steps.
I’ll never be able to teach him how to drive, we’ll never get to argue about the state of his room, about why he constantly keeps plates and cups in there, or even why he chooses to leave the toilet seat up.
“I’ll never get to embarrass him at his 18th birthday party, or watch him go on his first lads’ holiday. We’ll never get to take him to university and then see him graduate. I’ll never get to be the mother of the groom and watch my first baby marry a woman that he loves a little bit less than me. I’ll never get to meet my grandchildren. I love my son so much, words cannot even describe it.
“Yet I have to live with these ugly scars, which are a permanent reminder.
I think about what has happened to me 24/7, it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing before I sleep. You can only imagine some of the dreams and nightmares I endure.
“Then there’s a gaping hole inside that will always be filled with nothing but pain, loneliness and anger. I’m going through all of this at the age of only 22 years.
“Now that Kevin and the youth are guilty of killing my son, attacking me, I want them to be suitably punished by the law for their lies, their lack of guilt, their deception and most importantly for taking the life of my son Joel from me.
“They have taken a healthy life and taken a part of me that I will never get back. I want them to pay in return for what they have done, for killing a baby before it had any opportunity to live life.”
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