A gang member armed with an “enormous knife” who drove into enemy territory and stabbed a rival who was celebrating his birthday in the street, had the tables turned on him and was hacked to death by a group of nine men in south London, a murder trial jury has been told.
Darius Kwakye, 29, Donte McCalla, and Tristan Bullock, both 21, all deny murdering Salem Koudou in Brixton in August 2020.
Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow, KC, told a jury at the Old Bailey in London on Monday that Koudou was a member of a Stockwell-based gang called All ‘Bout Money, which had a violent rivalry with the 150 gang from the Angell Town estate in Brixton.
On Aug. 20, 2020 Koudou and two other men, in a stolen VW Golf, entered the Angell Town estate where members of 150 were celebrating the birthday of Tyreicke Williams, and Glasgow said, “They were armed with at least one knife and possibly a firearm, and their plan was undoubtedly to locate and attack those they perceived to be their rivals.”
The Golf crashed into Kwakye’s Mercedes car and then turned over and the other two men who came with Koudou just ran away.
Glasgow said: “When Salem Koudou got out of the car, he had armed himself with an enormous knife and began to chase the party guests who, quite literally, ran for their lives.”
The prosecutor said: “Tyreicke Williams fell to the ground during the chase and Salem Koudou did not hesitate. He set upon the defenceless Tyreicke Williams and seriously injured him with the knife. Somehow Tyreicke Williams managed to get to his feet and, despite being chased around in circles, he avoided being fatally wounded.”
‘There Was No Hope of Survival’
The prosecutor said: “Salem Koudou fell to the floor and the group set upon him. In total he was stabbed more than 30 times and the injuries he sustained were catastrophic. His lungs, liver, and stomach were damaged by the knives that were used to stab him, and the blades were wielded with such ferocity that some of the wounds were as deep as 14 cm, others damaged the bones of his rib cage, and one went through his skull. There was no hope of survival.”Glasgow said both sides “enjoyed taunting and attacking each other when the opportunity arose” and he added, “Salem Koudou intended to ensure that Aug. 20, 2020 was to provide such an opportunity but ... his plan did not work out as he had hoped.”
The police have identified Kwakye, McCalla, and Bullock from CCTV evidence, as being three of the pack who chased Koudou prior to the “murderous assault.”
The jury was told that Bullock’s younger brother, Yaseen, 20, has been convicted of Koudou’s murder at an earlier trial.
The trial continues.
