Teenager who murdered Charlie Cosser on dance floor at party identified for the first time as judge lifts anonymity
19 June 2024, 14:40
A teenage killer who lethally stabbed another boy on a busy dance floor has today been named for the first time.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Applications from reporters were allowed by Her Honour Judge Christine Henson K, lifting the order protecting his identity.
Yura Varybrus, 18, knifed teenager Charlie Cosser three times in the chest, after he was asked to leave an end-of-term party in the grounds of a £1.5 country farmhouse last summer.
Lifting his anonymity, Judge Henson said: "This is a case that is a particularly grave crime and has attracted substantial national and local interest.
"The level of youth crime in this case is likely to be of significant public interest at a private party attended by many young people.
"Charlie Cosser's death has shocked a community and the family have set up a charity to fight against knife crime.
"Disclosure may aid the local community in coming to terms with this incident.
"The consideration of acting as a deterrent in future knife crime of young people is a proper objective of press reporting to act as a deterrent to others."
Varybrus has Ukrainian parents and before the party took place at Balmohano Farmhouse near Warnham, West Sussex, he had never met Charlie before.
He was just 16 when he initially pleaded guilty to murder at Lewes Crown Court on July 28, and was meant to be sentenced in September last year.
Read More: Revealed: Panicked final phone call of missing Brit teenager Jay Slater who vanished in Tenerife
Those who saw the 5’11” teenager at the party, described him as a "big lad".
Allegedly, he drank heavily throughout the night and consequently claimed to not remember details about the killing.
At another hearing in November, his guilty plea was vacated, meaning he could be tried for murder.
According to The Telegraph, Charlie’s dad, Martin Dosser said: “He’s well known and I know people are scared of him. The DCI told me when he told him Charlie had died, he didn’t even flinch.
“He’s known to carry a knife and so is his friend, who I think gave the knife to him.”
The trial jury were not told that Varybrus had already pleaded guilty to murder days after Charlie's death.
He was 16 at the time, and replied 'Guilty' when the charge of murder was put to him in July last year.
When he was taken down from the dock at Lewes, he exchanged a raised fist salute with his father.
After the hearing, his father said: “It’s not just him, we are all guilty. He is a child, we are all responsible and should have been making sure they were not drinking.
“I never saw him drinking before. I haven’t been able to see him for five days and he is only 16, he is a child.
“We need him to know we love him and we will stay with him all his life.”
Her Honour Judge Christine Henson KC will sentence Yura Varybrus at the Crown Court in Brighton today.
Previously Charlie’s family paid tribute to their most caring, cheeky and loving son and brother who had a “ridiculously silly sense of humour”.
They have set up a charity called Charlie's Promise which is dedicated to fighting knife crime across Surrey and the UK.
