A charity youth worker was stabbed to death by moped-riding teenagers acting like “20th Century highwaymen”, a court heard.

Abdul Samad, 28, was killed for his iPhone and little more than “aggression and blood lust” as the two youths swept across west London on the evening of October 16 last year, jurors were told.

Nathan Gilmaney, 18, and his 17-year-old friend allegedly wanted to rob as many people as possible, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said they were “highwaymen of the 21st Century who thought they had the right to threaten and rob whoever they found, who attacked their targets in a brazen and shocking manner and who stabbed their victims often for no reason other than simple aggression and blood lust”.

He said the pair had both armed themselves with a knife and set out on Gilmaney’s moped.

“They hoped to steal wallets and valuables from their victims and, where possible, they intended to take their victims’ mobile phones, which they knew they could quickly sell for cash.

“By the end of their four-hour spree of violence they had committed nine knifepoint robberies, they had gratuitously stabbed four of their defenceless victims and they had killed Abdul Samad, a 28-year-old man whose job as a charity youth worker had seen him devote his time to helping the very sort of young men who took his life.”

As the number of casualties mounted, police were quickly alerted and scoured the area for the culprits.

Mr Glasgow said the defendants tried to escape but were arrested after a police chase.

Their pockets were stuffed with stolen valuables and CCTV captured them in the act of riding around and attacking helpless strangers, the Old Bailey heard.

The 17-year-old has admitted robbing the victims but does not accept responsibility for the violence.

Gilmaney has also pleaded guilty to the robberies and violence but both defendants have denied murder.

Mr Glasgow told jurors that Mr Samad had been confronted by the teenagers in St Mary’s Terrace, in Paddington, and handed them something from his pocket.

At first the pair rode off but turned around and shouted at him, jurors heard.

He gave them something else but Gilmaney allegedly got off the moped and stabbed him in the chest.

Mr Glasgow said: “Mr Samad managed to stagger the short distance back to where his family lived but he collapsed at the door. His parents, who heard his cries, found him bleeding to death outside their home.”

He died later in hospital having suffered a devastating wound to the heart.

The court heard the defendants were unmoved by the plight of their victim and his “traumatised” family and prowled the streets to identity their next target minutes later.

Mr Glasgow said the teenagers had acted as a team and Gilmaney, from Maida Vale, had admitted manslaughter, but claims he did not intend really serious harm.

Mr Samad’s mobile phone was among stolen items sold on the same night but recovered during a police search of a flat off Harrow Road, the court heard.