Gang members jailed for life over teenage girl’s murder

Agnes Sina-Inakoju, 16, died after being shot in the neck at a takeaway in Hoxton. Photo: Metropolitan police

This article titled “Gang members jailed for life over teenage girl’s murder” was written by James Meikle, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 12th April 2011 11.17 UTC

Two members of an infamous gang who shot dead an innocent 16-year-old schoolgirl in a Hackney takeaway shop have been jailed for life, with minimum terms of 32 years.

Agnes Sina-Inakoju became an unwitting victim of a gang feud after being hit in the neck by a bullet from a submachine gun as she stood by the Hoxton Chicken and Pizza Shop window with friends.

The shot was fired by Leon Dunkley, 22, a member of the London Fields gang, in what was described as a “callous and cold-blooded attack” in April last year. The subsequent police investigation unearthed an arsenal of weapons and uncovered evidence of violent intimidation.

Dunkley and fellow gang member Mohammed Smoured, 21, cycled up to the takeaway in Hoxton Street at about 7.15pm before Dunkley pulled out his gun and fired. The shooting was captured on CCTV.

Agnes, a “popular and successful” teenager, who had hoped to go to Oxford University, had her future “taken away in an instant”, Simon Denison QC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey. She died in hospital 36  hours after she was shot.

Denison told the court that Sina-Inakoju had popped out to buy some pizza. “She was standing inside the shop next to the window. Two young men on bicycles wearing hoodies cycled up to that window. One of them calmly took out a gun, pointed it towards the window where Agnes and her friends were and fired.”

“It was very quick,” said Denison. “He did not even stop his bicycle. He did not pause to see who was in the shop or aim at anyone in particular. The bullet hit Agnes in the neck and she collapsed immediately.

“The two young men cycled off as casually as they arrived. It was as callous and cold-blooded as it could be, carried out in broad daylight in a busy street. Agnes appears to have been the innocent victim of an ongoing rivalry between gangs in that part of London.”

Police later found that teenagers were intimidated into storing weapons by other senior London Fields gang members. The shooting was apparently a revenge attack after one of the group’s members was beaten up by rival gang, the Hoxton Boys.

Dunkley believed Hoxton Boys members would be at the takeaway when he opened fire, the court heard. After the shooting, Smoured told a friend: “It’s funny, the way she dropped.”

Dunkley, who had been previously arrested for four firearm incidents, and Smoured were each convicted of murder by a 10-1 majority.

Two youths aged 16 and 17, were convicted of firearms offences for holding weapons on behalf of older members of the gang, will be sentenced at a later date.

Judge Peter Beaumont, the recorder of London, lifted reporting restrictions in the case of the 17-year-old, Dwayne Wisdom, who was convicted of two firearms counts and of assisting an offender by moving the firearm. But restrictions remain in the case of the 16-year-old, who was found guilty of one firearm offence and cleared of five others.

The court heard the murder weapon was recovered by officers who chased Wisdom a week after the shooting. In a rucksack that he threw over a wall, they found a 9mm Parabellum submachine gun, along with a second gun and bullets. “The submachine gun was later identified as the gun used to kill Agnes,” said Denison.

Other firearms recovered during the investigation including a loaded Mac-10 submachine gun, a loaded shotgun and ammunition, and a loaded .38 revolver, the court heard. Inquiries revealed that the gun used to kill Sina-Inakoju had been used in six other shootings, while the Mac-10 was linked to four incidents.

During the trial, one witness said older gang members would intimidate younger youths into holding guns or drugs and if they refused “they took it as disrespect … They will beat you up, stab you or if it gets too far, even kill you.”

Dunkley denied he had carried out the shooting in revenge for an attack on a fellow gang member. He said: “I have been cut in my face, my neck and hand and I haven’t retaliated, so there is no way.”

Smoured said: “I weren’t there.”

Chief Superintendent Steve Bending, commander of Hackney borough, said: “Those convicted today have committed a crime that is as reckless as it is cowardly. They are each condemned by every right-minded person for playing their part in taking the innocent life of Agnes, a young lady with her whole life ahead of her.”

Sina-Inakoju’s family said in a statement that she “was a very beautiful, friendly, brilliant and intelligent young girl with lots of potential. She was full of ambition and intended to go to Oxford University to continue her study after school.”

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