A man has been found guilty of murdering a street gangster who was hacked to death in swift retribution for crashing a party on rival turf and attacking a man celebrating his birthday with a machete.
Salem Koudou, 19, was stabbed 32 times after he was chased by up to 15 people intent on revenge in Brixton, south London, jurors heard.
Darius Kwakye, 29, was found guilty of his murder at the Old Bailey on Wednesday after a jury deliberated for nearly 19 hours.
During the trial, prosecutor Oliver Glasgow KC told jurors there could be no excuse for the “murderous attack”.
Kwakye’s co-defendants Donte McCalla, 21, and Tristan Bullock, 21, were cleared of wrongdoing.
On 20 August 2020, Mr Koudou and two others armed themselves with at least one knife and possibly a gun and set off in a stolen VW Golf to attack rivals, it was claimed.
Jurors were told Mr Koudou was a member of Stockwell-based gang All ‘Bout Money (ABM) which was in violent dispute with gangs known as 17 or Wandsworth Road, One Five O (150) or Get Back Gang (GBG), and Four Ten (410).
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Mr Koudou and his companions first went to Wandsworth where a potential target was chased but managed to escape, the court heard.
They went on to Brixton where they allegedly came across an “ideal target”, a birthday party on Marcella Road for Tyreicke Williams, 28, who was affiliated with GBG.
Response was ‘immediate and violent’
Just before 6pm the VW Golf was driven into Kwakye’s parked Mercedes and turned over onto its roof, jurors heard.
Two of the unidentified occupants pulled themselves from the wreckage and ran off.
Mr Koudou got out with an “enormous knife” and began to chase guests, including Mr Williams and Kwakye, it was alleged. The defenceless Mr Williams fell to the ground and was set upon by Mr Koudou but managed to get away despite being hurt.
The prosecutor said the response was “immediate and violent”, “swift and aggressive” as party guests armed themselves and gave chase.
He told jurors: “The roles were now reversed” and Mr Koudou “had 15 or more people to escape from.”
Some wounds ‘as deep as 14cm’
He ran and used his knife to ward off his pursuers. Realising he was “hopelessly outnumbered”, Mr Koudou fled but fell down and was set upon by members of the group, the prosecutor said.
Mr Glasgow told jurors Mr Koudou was stabbed “more than 30 times” sustaining “catastrophic injuries”.
“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 14cm.
“Others damaged the bones of his rib cage, and one went through his skull.”
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He said: “There was no hope of survival and yet seconds was all it took for this attack to take place, for his pursuers to have their revenge, and for the killers to disappear calmly as if nothing had happened.”
The prosecutor added: “Given the build-up to this shocking violence, there can be no doubt that Salem Koudou’s pursuers wanted to avenge the attack upon Tyreicke Williams.”
The defendants had denied they had anything to do with the murder. Following his conviction, Kwakye was remanded into custody to be sentenced at a later date.
