A 17-year-old boy has been jailed for life – and for at least 16 years – for the murder of a 17-year-old boy at a party last summer.
Yura Varybrus was 16 at the time he stabbed Charlie Cosser three times at the party at a farm in Warnham, Horsham, in July last year.
At Brighton Crown Court this afternoon (Wednesday 19 June), Judge Christine Henson ordered that Varybrus be detained at His Majesty’s pleasure.
The sentencing followed a trial, also at Brighton Crown Court, at the end of which a jury unanimously convicted Varybrus of murder and of having a knife.
The court heard victim impact statements prepared by Charlie’s parents and siblings. They also heard from Amy Packham, prosecuting, as well as mitigation from barrister Sarah Jones on behalf of Varybrus.
Judge Henson said: “Charlie Cosser was 17 years of age when he was murdered. He was still a child. He had everything to look forward to in his life.
“He went to the party held on private land in Sussex expecting to have fun before his holiday abroad with friends due to begin on the Monday.
“Instead, his life support machine was turned off two days after he arrived at the hospital on 25 July 2023.
“There is no evidence Charlie had ever been involved in any confrontations or fights in his life. He was a slight male and although a little older than you, Yura, by all accounts far less broad.
“Instead of what should have been an end of academic year celebration, Charlie was stabbed a number of times on a crowded marquee dance floor where witnesses estimated there were up to 200 people around midnight.
“The incident, in part captured on a mobile phone of a party-goer unaware of what they were filming, was a short-lived event.
“However, as set out so eloquently in the victim impact statements, the impact of the loss of Charlie to his family and friends is immeasurable.
“This sentencing exercise is not about measuring the value of Charlies life in the number of years that you Yura will be in detention. That is impossible to do.
“Nor do I sentence you, Yura, on the basis you are responsible for the ever-growing knife crime among young people and the untold damage and impact it is having on our communities.
“I sentence you today solely on what you did, the choices you made and your personal circumstances.
“The jury rejected that you were not in possession of the knife at the time of the incident.
“I am satisfied on the jury verdict that you did not stab Charlie in self-defence and I am satisfied on the evidence heard at trial that you did not draw the knife purely in a defensive way.
“The three separate stab wounds to the torso with moderate force demonstrate an intention by you to cause at the least really serious injury in a very short space of time.
“Although I will address the sentencing guidelines that I must apply, I appreciate that they may mean very little to you.
“The purpose of setting them out is to show I have taken them into account in deciding the right sentence.
“I have also considered the youth justice report, which is detailed, about your life and background. It contains many personal things that I do not need to say in open court.
“But please know I have considered the contents of it, your letter to me and the references uploaded on your behalf by family and friends.
“At the time you murdered Charlie you were 16 – four months from your 17th birthday. You are now 17 years and seven months.
“When sentencing children, for that is what you are in law, there are specific rules I must follow which are different to those offenders over 18.
“It is important that I not only consider your chronological age but also your level of maturity – that is your developmental and emotional age.
“In coming to the starting point to apply, I must consider the seriousness of your offending.
“But I also consider your potential rehabilitation and the effect the sentence is likely to have on you – as well as things in your life that may contribute to your behaviour – in deciding the minimum time in detention you will serve.
“A key factor I have taken into account is your developmental maturity rather than a focus on your actual chronological age.
“I have considered whether you had the maturity to appreciate fully the consequences of your actions, to what extent you were acting on impulse and whether your actions were affected by inexperience, emotional volatility or negative influences.
“I have, in coming to my decision, ensured I have taken into account the overarching guidelines when sentencing children and young people and the Youth Court Bench Book.
“I don’t think you went to the party expecting a fight but I am satisfied you knew there was a knife available to use at the party, even if I cannot be sure it was you that physically took it there.
“I am satisfied you had access to it during the night if violence took place.
“You did not know Charlie and I accept it was a spontaneous incident following what appears to be allegations about your inappropriate sexual behaviour and being asked to leave.
“It is, however, a significant factor that you knew the knife was available to you during the evening and you were in possession of it on the dance floor.
“The violence which caused the death of Charlie may have erupted suddenly and unexpectedly but you had armed yourself with a weapon on the dance floor.
“I am satisfied on the evidence at trial you were contemplating the use of the knife offensively if the circumstances arose. The knife has not been found.
“I told you on the last hearing that you would receive a life sentence – this is the only sentence for murder. Because you were 16 when you murdered Charlie, it is detention for life at His Majesty’s pleasure.
“It means unless you are released by the Parole Board you will remain detained for the rest of your life.
“The Parole Board are a group of independent people and experts who decide if and when it is safe for you to be released. The Parole board will consider your case after you have served a fixed period of years in detention.
“That time is called the minimum term and it’s my task, based on everything in the case and what the lawyers have said, to decide the minimum term.
“The law tells me where I should start and has set starting points depending on various factors.
“Section 259 and schedule 21 of the Sentencing Act 2020 provide the relevant framework. This is in conjunction with section 127 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and paragraph 5A.
“The starting point for offenders who are 15 or 16 at the time of the offence and are found to have taken a knife to the scene is 17 years (23 years if you had been 17).
“If the court is not sure you took a knife to the scene, the starting point is 10 years if you were 15 or 16. (If you had been 17 at the time of your offending, it would have been 14 years.)
“As I have already said, I cannot be sure it was you who physically brought the knife to the party.
“I am, however, satisfied that you knew it had been taken to the party, even if not by you, and that you had access to it should you wish to use if the need arose.
“I have considered whether your maturity and age should alter the start point. I do not think it should but will come back to your age and maturity when considering the overall circumstances of the case.
“Having taken the start point of 10 years, I must decide what makes your offending more or less serious to move up or down from the start point.
“Turning to the factors that make your offending more serious
- Although I cannot be sure you physically brought the knife to the party, I am sure you knew it had been taken to the party and had access to it throughout the evening. I am satisfied you contemplated the use of a knife offensively if the circumstances arose. There has been no suggestion you had a knife due to some threat and for your own perceived safety.
- Your heavy level of intoxication through voluntarily drinking around half a litre of vodka in a relatively short space of time, encouraging you to lose inhibitions and act more impulsively than you otherwise might.
- I accept no one witnessed the stabbing. It took place at a crowded venue of young people who have not only witnessed the event but the aftermath and the distress it has caused to those at the party including at least two close friends of Charlie.
- The number and location of the stab wounds delivered with moderate force in a short space of time make clear your intention to cause really serious injury at the very least.
- You destroyed your clothing by burning them that night and involved another in this activity.
- You changed your identity on social media and, although there is footage of you the following day before arriving at the police station on a phone at a restaurant, it has never been recovered and nor has the knife.
- Knowing you were wanted for, at that stage, attempted murder and that another person was in custody for it, you evaded police for several hours, deciding to go for lunch with your family in a restaurant before surrendering to police at a time and location that suited you.
“Turning to factors that make your offending less serious
- Your good character.
- That I am not sure you intended to kill Charlie.
- I accept it was not a planned attack on Charlie but this is balanced against it not being truly impulsive because of you being in possession of a knife in advance should the need arise to use it in violence
- Although you were only four months away from your 17th birthday at the time of your offending and have been described by your teachers as a high achiever, academically, I do accept your more recent accommodation prior to this incident and move to Sussex had a negative experience on you in both your home life and negative peer influences. Your demonstration of anger within school, occasional impulsivity and lack of ability to share emotion are factors I have taken into account when considering your developmental maturity alongside your disrupted accommodation and lack of family support.
“I must balance all these features to achieve a just minimum term while taking into account the statutory framework and the relevant guidelines and recent authorities I have been greatly assisted by.
“The minimum term you must serve in detention is 16 years, with a deduction for the time spent on remand.
“So the sentence is detention for life at His Majesty’s pleasure with a minimum 16 years’ detention, minus 328 days spent on remand. The early release provisions apply when you have served the minimum term.
“I need to make it clear to you, Yura, and others in court, there is no guarantee you will be released once you have served the minimum term.
“The Parole Board will review the risk you then present and will consider whether you can properly be released from custody subject to licence at that stage and if so on what terms.
“If and when you are released, you will be subject to licence and this will remain the case for the rest of your life.
“If for any reason your licence is revoked, you will be recalled to prison to continue to serve your life sentence in custody.
“I impose no separate penalty for the possession of the bladed article which I have already taken into account in fixing the minimum term.”
