Drug dealer was shot dead after serving sentence over dismembering of body

Powys County Times

9 hours ago

A group of young men have been found guilty of killing a drug dealer a year after he served a sentence for helping to dispose of a body.
In 2021, Janayo Lucima, then aged 19, was jailed for three years and three months for his part in the dismemberment of 53-year-old jazz musician William Algar.
Mr Algar was killed at his home in Barnes, south-west London, in a dispute with a drug-dealing gangster over money.
Mr Lucima, 21, had admitted running a drugs line from the victim's property and was convicted of perverting the course of justice by buying bleach, washing up liquid, clothes and black bin bags to clean up the scene.
To date, no-one has been help accountable for Mr Algar's murder.
Mr Lucima was released from prison in March 2023 only to be murdered himself a year later in another unrelated dispute allegedly over drugs.
On the evening of April 1 2024, he suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest.
He was shot at close range by 18-year-old Mohamed Mansaray outside an address in Barons Court, west London, jurors were told.
Although Mansaray pulled the trigger, the doorstep killing was orchestrated by Khuder Al Kurdi, 22, from his home nearby, the Old Bailey heard.
Al Kurdi had phoned Mr Lucima and lured him outside, into the sights of gunman Mansaray who had been lurking there.
Others were with Mansaray to provide 'back-up, support and encouragement', although two have fled to Somalia and Libya to avoid prosecution, jurors heard.
Prosecutor Alan Gardner KC told jurors the murder was 'a planned and organised execution arising from disputes within the drugs trade'.
The handgun used to kill Mr Lucima was disposed of and has not been recovered, the court was told.
It had allegedly come from Al Kurdi who, jurors were told, played a 'central role' in organising the shooting.
Al Kurdi, who had convictions for dealing cocaine and heroin, admitted phoning Mr Lucima but insisted it was about a drug deal.
Mansaray claimed in his evidence that he did not think the gun was real, having previously been caught with a firearm in 2022.
The court was told he also had convictions for possessing a blade in July and September 2022 and had admitted affray after being found with a sheath at Notting Hill Carnival.
In April 2023, he was convicted of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.
Mansaray, of Neasden, north-west London, and Al Kurdi, of Barons Court, were found guilty of Mr Lucima's murder after an Old Bailey jury deliberated for 33 hours and 34 minutes.
Co-defendants Muktar Said, 23, of Hammersmith; Issa Siteri, 19, of Kensington; Yusuf Abdi, 19, of Westminster; and a 17-year-old youth were also found guilty of murder.
The jury was discharged on Tuesday after failing to reach verdicts on two other defendants.