A plumber has been jailed for life over the murder of a Deliveroo moped rider in a road rage attack captured on shocking CCTV footage.

Nathan Smith, 28, of Archway, swung out with a knife and stabbed part-time delivery moped rider Takieddine Boudhane, 30, on the evening of January 3, 2020 after an incident in Charteris Road in Finsbury Park.

He went on the run the day after the murder, leaving Mr Boudhane’s family to endure 17 months of “torment” as he refused to accept responsibility before being forced to face a jury trial, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Boudhane’s father, Said, also died before the trial and did not live to see Smith jailed for life at the Old Bailey on Thursday (August 25) as he was told he must serve at least 21 years in prison.

Judge Mark Lucraft QC, sentencing, said Smith had been “aggressive throughout” the attack and had swung at his victim at least five times.

The attack happened in front of members of the public, including a witness who was “clearly alarmed” by what she saw.

Smith was not working as a plumber of the night of the attack, and he had no lawful or legitimate reason to be carrying a knife.

The judge also said Smith had taken “positive steps” to dispose of evidence in order to try to hide his involvement, before going on the run and fleeing abroad.

Mr Boudhane’s mother, Saide, said the family’s lives had been “changed forever” as Smith acted in “pure anger” in response to a “minor road offence”.

The plan in the future had been for her hardworking-son to return to live with her in Algeria, but this will not happen and “he was not there to comfort me on the death of his father”, she said in her victim impact statement.

She added: “When the defendant acted in pure anger that night, he did not just kill my son, he killed my whole family. I hope that no family will have to go through this again.”

She continued: “Whilst my son was still lying in the street, this man had already started planning his escape from the country.

“He would not accept responsibility for taking Taki’s life and as a result of this my family had to endure another 17 months of questioning how he was taken from us.”

She added that “this man continued to torment my family by refusing to accept responsibility”, and forced them to endure a jury trial where my son got to watch his brother’s murder “frame by frame".

“Not once did he say he was sorry for what he had done, only that he had suffered PTSD while he was on the run.”

Smith was in a white VW Caddy van when moped rider Mr Boudhane had made a right turn, before the fatal confrontation.

Mr Boudhane, a chef, had become upset at the manoeuvre and words were exchanged, prosecutor Julian Evans QC had told jurors.

The situation escalated as Smith emerged from his van with a knife in hand, before he went “on the attack”.

Despite suffering a 7.5cm wound, Mr Boudhane ran after Smith and hit the side of the van with his crash helmet as he drove off, the court heard.

Mr Boudhane then collapsed on the ground. Despite the efforts of medics at the scene, he died at 7.42pm.

Meanwhile, Smith drove home and said nothing to his family about what had happened, jurors were told.

The next day, he took a flight from Luton airport to Austria using his brother’s passport and bank card.

Police went on to recover Smith’s van and found bloodstains matching the victim’s DNA.

In February 2020, an arrest warrant was issued for Smith, who returned to the UK after 17 months on the run in Europe.

On June 3 2021, he travelled back to the UK from Lisbon, accompanied by British officers.

During his trial, Smith, claimed he had acted “defensively” after the victim produced a screwdriver.

The court heard that Smith has previous convictions including possession of a prohibited weapon, offences of supplying class A drugs, possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and cannabis possession.