A convicted murderer who stabbed a man to death when he was just 15 years old has appeared in a police video to urge youngsters against carrying knives.

Sadam Essakhil was a schoolboy when he murdered Lukasz Furmanek, 24, in Handsworth, Birmingham on May 31, 2015.

He was jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 19 years, for the "chilling and senseless" attack he carried out with 18-year-old pal Abdullah Atiqzoy, who was also jailed for life.

A third man, Feizullah Atiqzoy, was jailed for four years for assisting an offender.

Essakhil has now appeared from behind bars to front a police campaign warning about the devastating consequences of carrying knives.

In the chilling footage, the now-20-year-old says: "The reason I carried a knife that evening was for my own protection.

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"There was no intention on that day to go out and hurt anyone.

"The victim wasn’t known to me and I sincerely regret what I did on that evening and always think about the victim and his family as they will never get to see him again.

"It’s not nice, having to live with the feeling that I’ve taken a life.

"Especially when you’re in your cell, thinking about things, they come to haunt you."

The killer admits in the clip he had mixed with the "wrong crowd" and prioritised friends over family.

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He says that, if he hadn't been carrying a knife on the night of the attack, he would have got into "a fist fight at most".

"When I actually think about it you do not need that knife," Essakhil continues.

"I used to think I was protecting myself, but what am I protecting myself from?

"Its not nice having a fight but its better than ending up in jail with a life sentence for killing somebody."

Essakhil and Atiqzoy were walking towards an all-night supermarket at 3am when they encountered their Polish victims Lukasz and friend Joseph Dudek.

In less than 60 seconds, Mr Furmanek lay dying on the ground and his friend was stabbed nine times, but managed to survive.

Paramedics carried out open-heart surgery in the street but Lukasz died at the scene.

West Midlands Police admitted it was a difficult decision to make to include a killer in their campaign video.

But – with more than 90 deaths from knife crime in London alone this year – they thought it was necessary to press home how damaging simply carrying a knife could be.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Munro, from the force’s homicide team, said: "Sadam’s message is powerful and I hope will provide some emotive thoughts and conversations amongst young people.

"We’re committed to reducing violent crime across our region and we’ve worked closely with the prison service, who we’re extremely grateful to for allowing us to interview Sadam and share his experiences in the hope that we can change behaviours and stop people carrying weapons."

Lukasz's mum is "fully supportive of the campaign" and said: "If I was to influence someone with my words, I would like them to think 10 times before they cause hurt to themselves and to other people.

"We must do more to prevent further victims and I hope this video, which will be delivered to all secondary schools in the West Midlands, helps to do that."

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