Bright Akinleye death: Two jailed for manager's murder

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53222280

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Two men have been given life sentences for murdering a man during a promotional drill music video shoot.

Bright Akinleye, 22, collapsed after he was stabbed three times with a hunting knife in a flat in Euston, London.

Tashawn Brewster, 22, from Kennington, and Abdoulie Ceesay, 28, of no fixed address, were both convicted following a trial at the Old Bailey.

They were handed minimum jail terms of 21 years each at the same court on Monday.

A third man, Oliver Petts, 30, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years in prison.

A fourth defendant, Silas Loko, 27, of Kinglake Estate, was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter.

'An ambush'

The jury heard Mr Akinleye had been involved with a group of drill artists from Birmingham called 23 Drillaz.

He later became the manager for one of the rappers who was connected with the video shoot where he was attacked.

Brewster had been recruited to help "punish" Mr Akinleye as part of a long-running dispute with twin brothers Jospin and Elvis Mayamba.

There was "no reason" for Brewster and Ceesay to involve themselves in what had been a dispute between Mr Akinleye and others, the court heard.

Catherine Gould, from the Crown Prosecution Service, described it as a "targeted hit".

She said Ceesay had wanted to impress his friends by carrying out the attack.

"This stabbing was an ambush and insofar as Brewster is concerned, we have no evidence that he had ever previously met the man whose life he so cruelly put an end to," she added.