Three men face jail over Euston drill rap video killing

Bright Akinleye
Met Police
Kit Heren9 March 2020

Three men are facing years behind bars for killing a drill rap manager who was stabbed during a promotional music video shoot following an online "war of words".

Bright Akinleye, 22, was stabbed three times with a large hunting knife in a Euston flat in February 2019.

During the onslaught he grabbed the blade and left a trail of blood as he ran 150 yards to a hotel foyer where he collapsed and died from a leg wound.

South Londoners Abdoulie Ceesay, 28, and Tashawn Brewster, 31, were found guilty of his murder after an Old Bailey trial.

Oliver Petts, 30, from Bromley, south-east London, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Mr Akinleye was involved with a group of drill artists called 23 Drillaz.

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

Prosecutor Simon Denison QC said Mr Akinleye was in a long-term dispute with twin brothers Jospin and Elvis Mayamba. He had posted an unflattering video online of Jospin Mayamba.

A few days before his death Mr Akinleye contacted the Mayambas' older brother, Chris Mayamba, on Instagram to end the argument, the Old Bailey heard.

But Mr Denison told jurors: “Instead of resolving anything, they taunted each other and it ended with a threat from Chris Mayamba to Bright – ‘When stuff go wrong for u or ur friends Mum just remember I said I don’t do verbal’.”

Ceesay and Petts were at a studio in south-east London for the start of the shoot, which then moved to Euston.

They called Brewster, who was recruited to "punish" Mr Akinleye, Mr Denison said.

Brewster's DNA was later found on the handle of the knife and more DNA evidence linked him to a pair of trainers that were stained with Mr Akinleye's blood, the court heard.

After the verdict, Catherine Gould, of the Crown Prosecution Service, called the killing a "targeted hit".

She said: "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."

The three men will be sentenced on March 26 .

A fourth defendant, Silas Loko, 27, of Southwark, south London, was cleared of murder.

Additional reporting by PA Media

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in