Eighteen-year-old Matthew Kitandwe was born to Ugandan parents, and his mother, Rose Kakooza, had moved to London, England after losing another son in a car accident in Uganda. The family lived in a house on Wayford Street in Battersea.
Matthew was a talented footballer, and had already made a name for himself as a right-back for Colliers Wood United F.C., having recently been promoted to the first team. Matthew had represented Uganda at the 2015 Africa Youth Qualifiers for the under-17 national team, a testament to his skill and ambition. In an interview with a Ugandan sports website the previous year, he expressed his dream of playing for Uganda at the highest international level.
Beyond football, Matthew was a student at South Thames College, pursuing a BTEC in sports and leisure. He had previously attended St John Bosco College and Wimbledon College, where he was remembered as a well-liked and vibrant individual. A former altar boy at Sacred Heart Church in Battersea, Matthew was deeply connected to his faith and community.
On the afternoon of June 21st, 2016, Matthew was returning home from college when he was ambushed just before four fifteen p.m. as he attempted to enter his flat in Wayford Street. Reports indicate he was stabbed multiple times in the communal hallway of his block of flats, with his mother witnessing the attackers chasing him inside. Despite her desperate efforts to resuscitate him, and the attempts of paramedics from the London Ambulance Service, Matthew was pronounced dead at the scene around five p.m.
The attack was described as sudden and brutal. A neighbor recounted seeing three young men jump out of a car shortly before the stabbing, acting as if they were “hunting for someone.” Another witness, a thirty-year-old Australian man living on the same street, noted a group of three youths in hoodies on bikes near Matthew’s block about twenty minutes before the sirens began, suggesting they may have been waiting for him. The fact that the attackers gained access to the secure stairwell of the building raised suspicions that they may have known Matthew or had specific intent.
The Metropolitan Police’s Homicide and Major Crime Command launched a murder investigation, led by Detective Chief Inspector Sam Price. Police arrested eight teenagers, aged between thirteen and eighteen, on suspicion of murder in the weeks following the attack. However, all were released without further action, with investigators noting a “wall of silence” around potential suspects.
Detectives explored several leads, including a possible motive related to a dispute over a girl, but found no evidence linking Matthew to gangs or criminal activity. They also sought information about a group of black men seen in a silver car in Wayford Street around eleven a.m. on the day of the murder, as well as a black hatchback observed driving up and down nearby Cabul Road multiple times around four p.m. One individual from the group near the silver car was seen approaching the hatchback before it drove off.
Crimestoppers offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible, a sum that remains unclaimed. Police also appealed for witnesses to a fight between two women near South Thames College at around one thirty p.m. on the day of the murder, though it’s unclear if this was related to the attack.
Years after Matthew’s death, his family and community continue to seek justice. On the second anniversary of the murder in 2018, police issued a renewed appeal for information, but the case remains open and unsolved as of 2025.
Crime Immemorial 