LONDON—A “high level” drug dealer, who had previously defied prosecutors and walked free after being tried for three separate murders, has been jailed for life after a jury convicted him of a fourth killing.
On Friday Mr. Justice Joel Bennathan, KC ordered Nana Oppong, 44, to serve a minimum of 38 years behind bars and described him as an “extremely dangerous man.”
Oppong led a seven-man gang who tracked Robert “Fox” Powell to a birthday party in Roydon in rural Essex and shot him as he left in the early hours of June 13, 2020 with his two sons.
Mr. Justice Bennathan said Oppong was “probably” the gunman but he said he could not be sure, but it did not matter as he was clearly the leader of the group and was in charge of the planning for the attack.
He said, “The gunman was out of the car for about 10 seconds and in that time shot him seven or eight times.”
Two young women were hit by bullets—one being shot in the foot and the other in the leg—and the judge said it was “pure luck” neither were more seriously injured.
The judge said he agreed with the prosecution that Oppong was the “leader of the group” and had carried out a “degree of planning” before the “carefully coordinated execution.”
Second Defendant Was ‘Useful Idiot’
Mr. Justice Bennathan said he may have played the role of a “useful idiot” as he provided his own car, a Toyota Prius, which was parked outside the party and waited for Mr. Powell to come out. When he did emerge someone in the Prius tipped off Oppong and the gunman emerged moments later.Mr. Powell, 50, was a music manager whose clients included the drill rapper Dutchavelli but Oppong harboured a “grievance” against him.
Prosecutor Justin Rouse, KC told the jury at the start of the trial: “Since Robert Powell is dead and Nana Oppong hasn’t told the police, the prosecution cannot tell you what exactly that grievance was, but it doesn’t matter. Do not be distracted by siren calls to look for a reason, what is often termed a motive.”
But the jury were never told at any point in the trial of the three times in the past when Oppong was accused of murder and walked free.
- On Dec. 23, 1999 Jeremiah Okey was killed in Plaistow, east London. Oppong, then 21, was acquitted of murder in March 2001.
- On May 29, 2010 a shoot-out occurred at Oppong’s birthday party in the Sugar Lounge nightclub in Forest Gate, east London, and two men died. Two juries were unable to reach a verdict on Oppong and the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case. His friend, Michael Smith, was jailed for life for murder.
- On May 24, 2014 at an all-night party in Dagenham, east London, a man called Ashley Latty, 25, was stabbed to death. Two of Oppong’s friends were jailed or life for the murder in April 2015 but he was acquitted and, after having pleaded guilty to attempted grievous bodily harm, was jailed for four years.
His barrister, Philippa McAtasney, KC claimed he was only a “middleman” who moved drugs for others and never dealt in more than five kilos at a time, but Mr. Rouse said Oppong was a “high level” dealer who directed the drugs trade on a commercial scale.
The trial heard Oppong organised the murder using EncroChat devices and two “burner phones.”
Killer Used Spotters to Track Victim’s Movements on Social Media
A week before the murder one of his spotters notified Oppong that Mr. Powell was at a party at an apartment in London’s Royal Victoria Dock after monitoring his social media accounts.Trevor Hamilton wrote: “That’s where the [expletive deleted] is. Bro, you need to see his social media, he’s advertising himself.”
Mr. Powell announced the party on June 12/13 in Roydon on Instagram and invited people to come along.
That alerted Oppong’s gang who began to put in place the plan to kill him.
The jury was shown dashcam footage from a passing car which showed three cars—a Ford Kuga, a Vauxhall Zafira, and a Toyota Prius—which the prosecution claimed travelled to Roydon in “convoy” and then parked up on the verge of a country lane close to the party which Mr. Powell was hosting at around 4 a.m.
Mr. Justice Bennathan said Oppong may have deliberately used Shah’s Prius in the hope Mr. Powell or passers-by would assume it was a taxi waiting for party guests.
After the murder, Oppong slipped out of the country and was caught as he entered Morocco, hiding in the back of a lorry and carrying a fake Maltese passport.
He was extradited back to the UK, as was Shah, who was arrested in Spain.
Mr. Justice Bennathan said the 619 days Oppong had served on remand—including 273 in Morocco—would be subtracted from his sentence along with the 517 days Shah spent in prison awaiting trial.
Earlier this week Temitope Adeyinka, 40, was extradited from Spain. He was charged with Mr. Powell’s murder and is due to go on trial later this year or next year.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr. Powell’s sister Jennifer said of her elderly mother: “She feels his loss every single day. She looks at messages she got from him, which makes me sad.”
She said Oppong and Shah had shown no remorse and had left her with numerous unanswered questions.
Mr. Powell’s sister said the family had suffered a great deal of loss in a short period of time, with another sister dying of cancer and their father dying, as well as Mr. Powell’s brother, Wayne.
In July 2010 Wayne Powell, a 39-year-old DJ, was shot dead in Chingford, northeast London.
His murder remains unsolved despite a £20,000 reward.
