Lazarus Makono: London man found guilty of murdering a 26-year-old man at a house party in Barnsley

Emergency services were called at 1.21am to a house at Co-operative Street, in Barnsley, on Wednesday, February 21, this year.

Officers found 26-year-old Lazarus Makono, known as “Laz”, with stab wounds to his side at the house party at a party in Goldthorpe.

Despite the best efforts of officers and ambulance staff, Lazarus sadly died at the scene a short time later.

Sipho Pfukani, 29, of Luxembourg Mews, London, was later arrested and, at an earlier hearing at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court in February 2024, Pfukani was charged with murder.

Pfukani initially pleaded not guilty in June 2024.

Following a two-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court, a jury found Pfukani guilty of the murder of Lazarus Makono on Monday (Oct 28).

At an earlier hearing at the same court, a second man, Terrance MIotshwa, 28, of Ripley Avenue, Derby, pleaded guilty to one count of assisting an offender and one count of fraud.

The pair will be sentenced on November 8,2024

Two women, aged 20 and 25, and a 32-year-old man who were previously arrested for assisting an offender, were all released with no further action.