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Mahir Osman |
Finally, the day of reckoning for mob who hunted down Mahir
WHEN the Old Bailey jury found Anwar Qasim not guilty of murder on Friday – he was convicted of conspiracy to wound and two other violent crimes – Judge Stephen Kramer finally lifted a news blackout that has prevented full details being published of the gang which killed Mahir Osman in Camden Town.
It has taken three trials and 19 months to pin down the 13 men now convicted of participating in the rampage which left the 18-year-old student from Swiss Cottage dead.
But they are only part of a gang of up to 40 men and boys who descended on Camden High Street on January 28 last year, apparently seeking revenge during a long-running tit-for-tat squabble with a rival Camden “crew” of petty cannabis dealers.
All the men who have faced trial were part of the group who fled the murder scene by boarding a 253 bus, which was then stopped and searched by police tipped off by CCTV monitors.
Several remain at large, believed by police to have fled abroad after the killing.
Scotland Yard’s Detective Supt John Sweeney, who was part of the murder squad investigation, told the New Journal after the trial: “There were some people who got away, a couple of them disappeared into the crowd, but because the CCTV coverage is there we know who they are and they are all wanted for murder, although the degree of their involvement will vary.
“We are actively involved in seeking to question these people.”
He said that, although the arrests of so many suspects, many of whom were juveniles and needed “appropriate adults” who in turn needed interpreters, had placed a strain on police resources, it had not allowed anyone to slip through the net.
“These were great bits of police work... and great work from the CCTV,” he said.
Among those involved in the attack was Faisal Wangita, the son of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
Wangita, born in Saudi Arabia after his deposed father fled East Africa, was left with his jeans and trainers soaked in the victim’s blood, but it was decided “too prejudicial” to link him, the oldest of 13 accused, to Amin.
He had fallen in with the NSL (North London Somalis) who wanted revenge for earlier attacks by the “Camden Boys” at a club in Enfield during an event hosted by Radio One DJ Tim Westwood.
Prosecutor Brendan Finucane, QC, described what happened when they found Mahir Osman, a member of a Camden group called the Centric Boyz.
“In 30 seconds he was left dying in the roadway,” he said. “Wangita was very much part of the team. They were armed with knives, some looted from a nearby Sainsbury’s, scaffold poles, bottles, lumps of wood, some with nails driven in, hammers and screwdrivers.
“Most wore hoods or scarves as masks. Mahir suffered more than 30 separate injuries, including 17 stab wounds. Three were fatal and to the back. He was two days short of his 19th birthday.”
13 convicted over attack that left student dead
THE 13 who have appeared in court are:
Anwar Qasim, 17, of Edmonton, who was found guilty of conspiracy to wound and to possess offensive weapons and of violent disorder. He was found not guilty of murder.
Guled Muse, 17, of Tottenham, was found guilty of violent disorder. He was found not guilty of conspiracy to wound and to possess offensive weapons.
Mohammed Tumaye, 18, of Tottenham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to wound and to possess offensive weapons, violent disorder and robbery.
Abdi Abdillhae, 21, of Finsbury Park, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to wound and to possess offensive weapons, violent disorder and robbery.
Mohammed Siad, 23, Riversdene, Highbury Quadrant, Highbury, was found guilty of conspiracy to wound and to possess offensive weapons. He admitted violent disorder and robbery.
They are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on September 3.
Others who appeared at the Old Bailey in April were:
Ismail Mohamed, 20, of Harringay, who was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 15 years.
Hussein Ali Hussein, 17, of Enfield, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 10 years.
Liban Elmi, 20, of Wood Green, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 14 years.
Faisal Wangita, 25, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of conspiracy to wound and of violent disorder. He was jailed for five years.
Husean Hasan, 17, of Edmonton, was found guilty of conspiracy to wound and to possess offensive weapons, and of violent disorder. He was sentenced to five years.
Mohamed Mohamud, 18, of Leytonstone, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess offensive weapons and of violent disorder. He was sentenced to four years.
Abdirahmen Mohamed, 18, of Tottenham, was found guilty of conspiracy to wound and to possess offensive weapons, and of violent disorder. He was sentenced to five years.
Liban Hassan, 16, of Enfield, was found guilty of conspiracy to wound and to possess offensive weapons, and of violent disorder. He was sentenced to five years.
Police trapped gang armed with knives, clubs and swords
SERGEANT Bob Dear was on a routine licensing patrol around Camden Town’s bars and restaurants when a call came through from the CCTV control centre on January 28 last year.
Shocked staff at the centre had just watched a mob of 30 men surround a young Somalian in Camden High Street – monitors clearly showed the lining of his jacket fly as he was hacked and slashed. The gang had then boarded a 253 bus.
Sgt Dear and two PCs overtook the bus full of the heavily-armed attackers who had just stabbed Mahir Osman.
“We got right behind it within seconds and I knew I would have to make a judgement,” Sgt Dear told the New Journal this week. “There they all were on this bus, and we were three of us in one car. It was a judgement whether this was the best chance to prevent them escaping. We pulled across in front of the bus and stopped it.
“As we pulled in I told one guy to go to the rear door. As I got to the middle the doors opened and three or four of them were there but we pushed them back by a show of force.
“I saw another guy coming down the stairs and he dropped his knife. There was a clear sound as it rattled down the stairs in front of him.”
Sgt Dear and his colleagues, PCs Gerry McGann and Dave Atkins, held the doors for three minutes until assistance arrived. They were armed with batons against the knives, clubs and swords of the gang aboard the bus.
About five gang members escaped by leaping from the rear window, but 24 people were arrested when police arrived in sufficient numbers to board the bus, where they found the aisles and seats littered with discarded weaponry.
A second bus was commandeered at the scene to take the arrested men into custody.
After the conclusion of the Old Bailey trial last week, Sgt Dear said: “If we hadn’t stopped that bus, how many people would have sat in that dock?” |
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