Woman jailed for life for stabbing teen to death – in row over pasta

A WOMAN has been jailed for life for stabbing a teenager to death – in a row over pasta.

JAILED: Maxine Benson has been locked up for life over the death of Alfie Stone

Maxine Benson attacked 18-year-old Alfie Stone after accusing him or his older brother of eating her food.

The 32-year-old stabbed Alfie to death outside Tesco Express in High Road, Ickenham, west London, on November 9 last year.

CCTV captured Benson holding the knife, the court heard, while members of the public also witnessed the attack.

JAILED: Maxine Benson was jailed for 23-and-a-half years

Benson, of no fixed address, fled the scene but handed herself in to police two days later.

Alfie died within hours of the stabbing.

A post mortem found he suffered a stab wound to the heart.

The trial heard how Alfie and his brother Jake were accused of pinching food from the kitchen at a block of bedsits.

MURDER SCENE: Tesco Express in Ickenham

It was claimed the brothers knew the area because their sister was a tenant in one of the bedsits.

Jake had stayed at the address two days before the murder following a fight with his mother and allegedly he took food from the communal kitchen, the court heard.

But a fight broke out when the boys came to collect some of their sister’s possessions.

Jurors heard how Alfie desperately tried to use a chip shop advertising board as a shield.

Benson claimed she forgot the knife was in her hand but was convicted of murder by the Old Bailey jury.

STABBED: Alfie Stone was just 18-years-old

Detective chief inspector Nicky Wall, from Scotland Yard, said: “Alfie Stone was a much-loved young man who lost his life in traffic circumstances.

“Today the court has reached a decision on Benson and we welcome the outcome.”

Benson’s co-defendants, Corinne Cripps, 29, of High Road, Ickenham, and her boyfriend, Steve Hawgood, 28, of Kingston Avenue, West Drayton, were cleared of murder.

The jury could not reach a verdict on a manslaughter charge and a decision on whether both will face a retail is awaited.