Law enforcement authorities jailed a teenager after he brutally killed a shopkeeper for refusing to sell him rolling papers. The presiding judge branded him a "time bomb" due to his offenses.

In January, the 16-year-old boy, whose identity is yet to be revealed, allegedly launched a fatal attack on 49-year-old Vijaykumar Patel just because he wouldn't give him Rizla cigarette papers.

Many are of the opinion that the four-year sentence handed to the teenager for the vicious assault was not long enough, including the senior detective who led the investigation into the case.

During the sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey, it was revealed that the boy had consumed five alcoholic drinks at a party before the incident in Mill Hill, north London. Authorities reported that Patel suffered grave injuries when his head smashed into the ground. His hands were allegedly inside his cardigan pockets when he was attacked.

Police released a CCTV footage of the incident, which showed the teen entering the shop with two friends and laughing as he ran away from the crime scene.

Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith, who handed the teenager an extended prison sentence of four years, said: "He's a time bomb. The record, the facts of this case, the contents of the pre-sentence report with the analysis of causing significant harm. I don't find the pre-sentence report surprising."

After the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Luke Marks said: "We were hoping the sentence would be perhaps more than it was. However, the judge has set out his reasons for why he believed that was to be the sentence that was passed down. He's got previous convictions for violence, he's demonstrated with this offense he will react extremely aggressively to situations. I would agree with the judge he does pose a significant risk to members of the public."

It was determined at a trial that Patel was not "involved" at all in the altercation outside the establishment which led to the assault - making it a case of manslaughter. On the other hand, the teen reportedly smashed Patel with his right arm and "launched himself" at him in a manner that the victim fell back and hit his head.

Philippa McAtasney, the attorney representing the boy, argued that Patel was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and described the brutal assault as a simple "shove".

However, the judge responded by saying: "Describing it as a shove does not do it justice in my view. He deliberately went to the left and launched himself."

The trial heard that another shop assistant chased the boys off the scene with a broom and a billboard sign after Patel hit the ground. He immediately rushed the bleeding victim to a hospital but despite the medics' best efforts, Patel died the following day.

Investigative officers later found a coat with the victim's saliva on the sleeve as they searched the attacker's bedroom. They also found a Burberry scarf he was wearing at the time.

That said, McAtasney claimed the teen "misconstrued the situation" outside the shop as he suffers from ADHD and low intelligence and added that he "makes it clear in the [pre-sentence] report that he had five drinks." Also, according to her, the boy "thought Mr. Patel had a knife."

But the judge said: "In my take on the evidence as viewed objectively on CCTV, Mr. Patel was not doing anything, he was not fiddling, he was not fidgeting."

The teen would now serve a minimum of two-thirds of the sentence and would be subject to a period of three years on license upon his release, reported Daily Mail.