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Model was stabbed to death by less successful rival, court hears Model was stabbed to death by less successful rival, court hears
(35 minutes later)
A well-known male fashion model was knifed to death by a less successful rival in a row about his girlfriend, a court has heard. Harry Uzoka, 25, died on the pavement outside his home in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, after he was stabbed in the heart. A model who worked for top brands including Zara and Mercedes was stabbed through the heart after an Instagram row with a fellow model over a woman, a jury has heard.
The Old Bailey was told that he called George Koh, 24, “a fake” on Instagram and arranged a fight after finding out Koh claimed to have had sex with Uzoka’s model girlfriend, Ruby Campbell. Harry Uzoka, 25, was killed after a two-minute confrontation with George Koh, 24, collapsing on the pavement outside his home in Shepherd’s Bush, west London.
The alleged victim, who was known as “H”, arrived for the confrontation on 11 January after recruiting his flatmate, Adrian Harper, and they were both armed with dumbbell bars, the jury heard. The Old Bailey heard that the two men clashed in January, with Uzoka and a friend armed with dumbbell bars. Koh was armed with a knife in each hand, and supported by two friends, armed with a machete and another knife.
Prosecutor Richard Horwell QC said Koh, along with Merse Dikanda and Jonathan Okigbo, both 24, took at least three knives, including a machete. Richard Horwell QC, prosecuting, told the jury: “This all started at about 3.51pm that afternoon and it was over by 3.53pm.
“It is not difficult to work out which side won. Uzoka and Harper were outnumbered and bars stand little chance against knives,” he said. “By the end, Harry Uzoka had been fatally stabbed in the heart and although he got away, he collapsed and died outside his home.”
“It is the crown’s case that Koh stabbed Uzoka and that Okigbo and Dikanda went with Koh to support and assist him in the intentional infliction of serious harm. The jury heard that Koh was a less-successful model than Uzoka, who had become annoyed about claims Koh allegedly made that he had slept with his girlfriend.
“Their combined desire to overwhelm and cause serious injury is obvious from their combined actions that afternoon. They acted like a team because that is precisely what they were.” Horwell told the court: “George Koh was also a model, not as successful as Uzoka, and it seems that Uzoka was annoyed by Koh because the less-successful Koh attempted to copy Uzoka and, indeed, some said that they looked alike.
Koh and Okigbo, who are both from Camden in north London, both deny murder. Dikanda, of no fixed address, denies murder, possessing a machete on 11 January and possessing a knife on 25 January. “Uzoka was also annoyed because Koh made contact with some of Uzoka’s friends. Such conduct can at times be irritating but the effect on Uzoka was no more than that and there is no suggestion that the two were in any sense at war with each other or anything like that.
Horwell told jurors: “A murder does not become a more serious crime simply because the victim enjoyed a degree of fame, of course it doesn’t, but Harry Uzoka was a well-known and successful model with a very bright future ahead of him and his celebrity status is relevant because it is that very part of his life that brought him into contact with the first defendant, George Koh. “But something changed, something caused that relationship to change and it was a woman.”
“Koh was also a model but not as successful as Uzoka.” Horwell told the jury that both men knew Annecetta Lafon, a French model, through Instagram, though she had met neither in real life.
The court heard that Uzoka, who was represented by Premier model agency in London, was annoyed by the less successful Koh, who some said looked like him, because he tried to copy him and make contact with his friends. In December 2017, she visited London and stayed at Koh’s home in Camden. Horwell said Lafon was “surprised to discover that Koh had something of an obsession with Uzoka”.
The relationship deteriorated after the Paris-based model Annecetta Lafon, who had previously been in contact with both men on Instagram, arrived in London in late December last year, the jury was told. The prosecutor continued: “Koh claimed that he knew Uzoka well and then said that he had had sex with Uzoka’s girlfriend, and that that was the reason the two men no longer talked. Koh then added that Uzoka was a bad man and a liar. And so, it seemed that admiration for another model had turned to contempt.”
The prosecutor said she was surprised to discover that Koh “had something of an obsession” with Uzoka. By 8 January, Lafon met Uzoka for the first time and stayed two nights at his Shepherd’s Bush home. Horwell said Lafon told Uzoka about Koh’s claims to have slept with his girlfriend, a model called Ruby Campbell.
He continued: “Koh claimed that he knew Uzoka well and then said that he had sex with Uzoka’s girlfriend and that was the reason why they no longer talked. Uzoka was stunned, the court heard. “Uzoka showed Lafon some Instagram messages in which he had implored Koh to stop copying him and to stop talking to his friends,” Horwell told the jury. “Uzoka described Koh as a fake and said that he wanted to have it out with Koh, face to face.”
“Koh then added that Uzoka was a bad man and a liar. And so it seemed that admiration for another model and his success had turned to contempt.” By 11 January, the row continued and barely 100 minutes before the attack, Koh sent Uzoka an Instagram message which read: “Where you? I’ll come there. We can fight. Bring your friends with you.” Minutes later Uzoka replied, telling Koh he was in Shepherd’s Bush, where he lived.
The jury was told a “confrontation” was arranged in Ollgar Close in Shepherd’s Bush following a series of phone calls and messages on WhatsApp and Instagram after Lafon had told Uzoka of Koh’s claims. Koh went with two friends, Jonathan Okigbo and Merse Dikanda, who had a machete. All three defendants are aged 24 and deny murder.
Horwell said Uzoka and his flatmate, Harper, ran when they, armed with bars, were confronted with knives. Harper got away, but Uzoka collapsed after being stabbed in the heart. Horwell said Uzoka had gone with a friend, Adrian Harper, and the two were soon overwhelmed and both fled.
“The emergency services did everything in their power to save him, but his injuries were devastating and he died on the pavement outside his home,” added the prosecutor. Horwell described the dumbbells as “bars” as he addressed the jury.
Uzoka was penned in around a parked car and saw “the formidable and threatening sight of Dikanda and his terrifying knife”, the jury heard.
Horwell said: “Eventually, Uzoka was separated from the bar that he had and, unarmed, he made a desperate run for freedom and he got away, although he was chased by Okigbo ... Uzoka escaped but his life was ebbing away from him. Whilst by the car he had been stabbed in the heart and when he reached the outside of his nearby home, he collapsed.”
Koh and the two other defendants took a cab to and from the scene of the fight, the court heard. Three days later, he contacted police and told detectives: “During the altercation with Harry, he knocked me to the ground. He had a metal pole in his hand and went to strike me.
“I acted in self-defence because I feared that he would kill me or cause me serious injury. I had no intention to stab him in the chest. I was on the floor when he fell on to me. I maintain that my actions were reasonable given the circumstances.”
The trial continues.The trial continues.
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