Man guilty of Finsbury Park murder

A 28-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering a Deliveroo driver in Finsbury Park. 

Nathan Smith, of Marlborough Road, N19, was convicted of murdering 30-year-old Takieddine ‘Taki’ Boudhane on Lennox Road in January 2020.

The day after the murder, Smith fled the country and initially travelled to Austria, where he remained in hiding for more than a year.

He was placed on Europol’s Most Wanted Fugitives list, before being located in Portugal. He arrived back in London on Thursday 3rd June, 2021, when he was charged with murder.

On 3rd January, 2020, Takkiedine and Nathan – who was driving a white van – both made a right turn onto Lennox Road. Takkiedine, a chef and part-time delivery driver, was unhappy with the manoeuvre, and drove alongside Smith’s van.

Jurors were told that words were exchanged, and that CCTV footage showed the encounter was “not a friendly one”. 

Nathan then stopped in Charteris Road, where Takieddine and another moped rider had parked, before emerging form his van with a knife. 

Jurors were told Takieddine, who had a screwdriver, swung his crash helmet in defence.

Prosecutor Julian Evans QC said that Nathan “swung his knife twice, in quick succession, towards Takieddine’s upper body. 

“It is the prosecution case that one of those two rapid blows with the knife, each delivered with force, entered Takieddine’s chest.”

Despite suffering a 7.5cm (3 in) wound, Takkiedine ran after Nathan before hitting the side of the van with his helmet as he drove off, the court was told.

He then collapsed. Despite the best efforts of medics, he died at the scene shortly afterwards. 

Meanwhile, Nathan drove home and said nothing to his family about the incident, before boarding a flight from Luton to Austria using his brother’s passport and bank card. 

Police eventually recovered his van and found blood stains matching Takieddine’s DNA. 

During his trial at the Old Bailey, Nathan told jurors that he was acting “defensively” and “only intended to scare” the victim. 

Smith will be sentenced at the same court on Thursday, 25 August.