Gang Member Faces Life Sentence Over Feud Murder Triggered by YouTube Video

An undated image of Craig Small, who was shot dead in Wembley, north-west London on July 5, 2019. Metropolitan Police

A man has been convicted of a gang murder in north-west London but the case has once again highlighted the prevalence of videos on YouTube which play a part in stoking tensions between rival groups.

On Friday, Courtney Ellis was found guilty after a retrial at the Old Bailey of the murder of Craig Small, who was shot dead outside a chicken shop not far from London’s Wembley Stadium on July 5, 2019.

A second man, Aaron Youngsam, was acquitted of murder at the first trial in 2022.

Ellis and Christopher Kyei, a rapper known as Skrapz, were both convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Judge Philip Katz KC adjourned sentencing but Ellis faces a mandatory life sentence.

The Metropolitan Police said while Ellis had been convicted of murder he was not the man who pulled the trigger.

Detective Superintendent Helen Rance said they had encountered a “wall of silence” around the gunman’s identity.

Det. Supt. Rance said: “Given the level of planning that went into Craig’s murder, the gunman’s identity will be known to others, however so far there has been steadfast refusal to share this with police.”

In the summer of 2019, the tensions between two gangs in north-west London were heating up, fuelled by claims and counter-claims spread on YouTube.

The Church Road Soldiers, who hail from the Church End estate in Willesden, have been at war with a gang from Wembley’s Stonebridge estate, sometimes known as The Usual Suspects, for more than a decade.

The Old Bailey trial was told a key figure in the Church Road Soldiers was a rapper and grime artist called Nines, who performed live at Wembley before the then world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua’s title fight with Alexander Povetkin in 2018.

Nines’ real name is Courtney Freckleton and in 2009 his brother Wayne Freckleton was shot dead in a barber’s shop, apparently in revenge for a double murder.

Rival Rappers Exchanged Insults

In the spring and summer of 2019, Nines and his arch-rival K-Koke—real name Kevin Georgiou— exchanged insults in videos on YouTube.

K-Koke had just signed a deal with American record producer Jay-Z and produced a song along with pop star Rita Ora, ironically called Lay Down Your Weapon.

Nines hit back with a track where he rapped: “If I had a record deal I still ain’t laying down my weapon.”

K-Koke, who was acquitted of attempted murder in 2011, then called Nines a “little snake” and asked why he had not retaliated when Stonebridge gang members stole his gold chain and showed it off in a video that has had more than eight million views.

On June 1, 2019, Nines was chased in his Porsche by members of the Stonebridge gang. He crashed the car and was stabbed, but survived.

A video of the incident was uploaded onto YouTube, where it remains.

A month later Stonebridge gang member Mr. Small was shot dead as he waited for his food outside a fried chicken takeaway.

‘He Didn’t Stand a Chance’

Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC told an Old Bailey jury: “The killer walked right up to him and pulled the trigger. The bullet struck Craig Small on the right cheek, passing through his brain. He didn’t stand a chance.”

Later that night the gunman attempted to kill Stonebridge gang member Steven Mukendi, known as Big French, but his gun jammed.

Two days later the Stonebridge gang shot dead 26-year-old Kwasi Mensah-Ababio, an innocent man who was gunned down simply because he bore a resemblance to Darren Buchanan, a member of a gang from the St Raphael’s estate, who was at the time suspected of having killed Mr. Small.

In October 2021 Nines was jailed for 28 months for smuggling 28 kilos of cannabis into the UK from Spain and Poland.

He was later released under licence conditions and in November 2023 a video circulated online of Nines being detained at Heathrow airport, apparently having breached those conditions.

This week Nines applied for his licence conditions to be amended.

This is not the first time gang videos on YouTube have led to murder.

In 2016 four men were jailed for life after the Fellows Court gang and their rivals in Hackney, east London, the Hoxton Boys, threw insults and threats at each other on the video-sharing platform.

YouTube Told to Remove Videos

At the time Hackney MP Meg Hillier called on YouTube to “step up to the plate” and remove the videos.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, issued a statement in 2016 in which it said: “YouTube has clear policies that prohibit content like gratuitous violence, hate speech, and incitement to commit violent acts. These videos are removed when they breach our community guidelines or local laws.”

But content featuring the Fellows Court gang was never removed and since then hundreds of incendiary gang videos have been uploaded onto YouTube.

A YouTube spokesman told The Epoch Times in an email: “At YouTube we are deeply committed to helping music of all genres grow and thrive. While YouTube is a platform for free and creative expression, we strictly prohibit videos that are abusive or that promote violence.”

“We work closely with organisations like the Metropolitan Police (and other local police forces) to understand local context. We’re committed to continuing and improving our work on this issue to make sure YouTube is not a place for those who seek to do harm.”