Four men who disguised themselves in burkas on their way to assassinate a drill rapper and his cousin have been convicted of murder after a jury deliberated for more than 40 hours.
The rapper Giddy—real name Saydi Abu Sheikh—and his cousin Zakariya Jeilani Mohamed were shot and stabbed to death in Ilford, east London in the early hours of Oct. 25, 2022.
Zain Mirza, 21, Chibuike Ohanweh, 21, Ayaanle Adan, 20, and Mahad Gouled, 22, were convicted of two counts of murder, two charges of attempted murder, and perverting the course of justice.
A fifth man, Zakarie Mohamad, 19, who had admitted perverting the course of justice by setting fire to the getaway car, was acquitted of murder.
Giddy was a key member of an Ilford gang called Drillford and the killers were from the rival Only Manor (OM) gang from Manor Park, the court was told.
The trial heard the killers had dressed in burkas to disguise their identities when they set off for the attack from a “mission control” flat on the night of the murder.
Prosecutor John Price, KC told the jury Adan, Gouled, and Ohanweh were three of the killers who arrived in Henley Road, Ilford, around midnight in a stolen Outlander, while Mirza was not present at the crime scene.
‘Motive was Revenge’
Mr. Price said of Mirza: “He procured this attack, brought it about. Careful to be at arm’s length from the events in Henley Road ... he had helped to facilitate and to arrange it. He was the one who most wanted it done, his motive was revenge.”The jury was shown CCTV footage of the car arriving and then another clip, which included audio, in which seven bangs can be heard.
The trial heard neighbours thought, because it was late October, that it might be fireworks going off.
“But it was not the sound of fireworks. It was the sound of guns being discharged. A few minutes later, police officers and paramedics arrived in Henley Road in response to more 999 calls from local people, alarmed now at what was happening in their street. Within the house was found a scene of bloody carnage,” said the prosecutor.
Mr. Abu Sheikh had been shot with four bullets and been stabbed 28 times, while his cousin was shot seven times and had also been stabbed.
The third man, Mr. Khaled, was shot six times, including once in the head, but miraculously survived.
A fourth man, Ali Sheikh, fled as soon as the attackers broke into the house and escaped with only a flesh wound to his shoulder.
Mr. Price said: “A fifth man was even more fortunate. Zachary Abdi had been in the upstairs room where the killings happened, when they happened. But before the gunmen were able to force their way into the room, he had concealed himself between a bed and the wall. Almost miraculously, his presence there went undetected by the gunmen.”
Mr. Price said the killers fled in the Outlander and a few minutes later set it on fire in another road on the other side of the North Circular Road.
But he said the blaze had failed to destroy some clothes left on the back seat of the car.
Mr. Price said: “The ultimate aim was to destroy any evidence which might connect them to their dreadful deeds. In that, they failed. Preserved and later meticulously examined in the laboratory, items of the clothing and other fabric items found in the SUV were to yield scientific evidence which, it is submitted, helps to prove the identities of the four men who carried out this murderous attack.”
