Alfie Lewis: Close friend of teen murdered outside Yorkshire school speaks of impact on community and vows to become champion fighter in his honour

But moments earlier, Bardia Shojaeifard, who was 14 at the time, had stabbed Alfie through the heart in full view of other pupils with a 13cm-long kitchen knife he had taken from home and carried all day at school.

Last week, Bardia Shojaeifard was sentenced for life for the murder, and the judge took the unusual step of naming the minor in a bid to help in the “vitally important debate about the scourge of knife crime, among young people in particular”.

Now, Toby has spoken exclusively to the Yorkshire Post about the impact the stabbing has had on him and his community.

He also urged others to learn from the stabbing, in an urgent plea to reduce the harm caused by knife crime, and said he is determined to ‘fight for his legacy’ by becoming a world champion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

The “senseless” killing is one in a long line of fatal knife attacks involving teenagers over the past year, including Charlie Cosser, 17, who was stabbed by Yura Varybrus, 16, at a private party in Warnham, West Sussex, in July last year, and Victor Lee, who was knifed in the back and pushed into a canal in west London by Elijah Gokool-Mely, 18.

Earlier this month two 12-year-old boys were thought to have become the youngest knife murderers in the UK after being found guilty of a brutal machete attack on “loving and protective” teenager Shawn Seesahai, who was stabbed through the heart in a Wolverhampton park.

In a sign of the increasing public concern about the prevalence of knife crime among young people, Labour has made tackling knife crime a key plank of its electoral campaign, calling it a ‘moral mission’.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants ministers, victims and tech giants to work together to tackle the sale of weapons online and cut crime on the streets, pledged to chair an annual summit to track progress in meeting the goal of halving knife crime incidents within a decade.

Speaking about Alfie’s murder, Toby said that the grief hits him at different times and he doesn’t know how to express it.

“I was a mess. I lost a part of me when I lost Alfie, I didn't know what to do with myself.”

In grief, Toby has sought solace at his ‘safe place,’ Combat Base in Armley where he is training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

With Alfie’s name emblazoned on his mouth guard, Toby is on a personal mission to transform his trauma into triumph.

“Every time I’m on the mat, even when I’m competing, he’s watching and I feel like every time I fight he’s by my side and he genuinely does help me.”

“Knife crime is a scary thing. “If you’re thinking about picking up a knife, don’t.

“If you’re thinking about it, come into a martial arts studio get your anger out, its better to do it physically at jiu-jitsu rather than taking someone's life.

“You don’t just ruin your life and kill one person, you kill a whole family.”

Leeds District Commander, Chief Superintendent Steve Dodds said: “Alfie’s death at such a young age, and in such horrendous circumstances, was utterly senseless and starkly illustrates the appalling consequences of knife crime.

“His family have very bravely spoken out about the ongoing pain of their loss in the hope that it will help to focus the minds of young people across the city.

“Sadly, they are not the only family in Leeds who are dealing with the loss of a child due to knife crime.

“The significant harm caused by serious youth violence, particularly knife crime, is an issue that we continue to work hard alongside our partner agencies to tackle through a range of proactive partnership work including targeted enforcement, youth engagement and education.

“That work has brought some reduction in incidents, but we recognise that any incident of this kind will always be one too many.

“Tackling knife crime remains a key priority for the police, council and partner agencies, under the city’s community safety partnership Safer Leeds, supported by West Yorkshire Combined Authority and West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership.

“The driving factors around young people and knife crime are varied and complex and no single agency has the answer, which is why a partnership approach across statutory agencies, third sector organisations and communities is vital. Everyone has stake in reducing knife crime.

“Raising awareness of the dangers of knife crime and the impact it has on families and communities remains an important focus of our ongoing proactive work, and we hope the absolutely tragic circumstances of Alfie’s murder will help to get the message across that it can never be right to carry a knife.”

Toby said he is really close to Alfie’s mum Heather who has been supporting Toby’s bid to become a world champion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in memory of Alfie.

He added: “Heather is beautiful inside and out. She’s put her focus on his friends. I love her so much. Long live Alfie. Forever 15.”