James Scobie QC, led Jeffrey Israel of 5KBW, and was instructed by Jon Ross of EBR Attridges.
On 10 January 2018 the defendant Siddique Kamara, alleged to be an elder in a Camberwell gang called 'Moscow 17', and co-defendant Kevin Aka-Kadjo (a younger member of Moscow 17) were cleared of murder at the Old Bailey.
Kamara and Aka-Kadjo were involved in a violent feud with another local gang, 'Zone 2'. Kamara was alleged to be the stabber and to have executed the victim, Abdirahman Mohamed, for apparently laughing at Aka-Kadjo, who was present when he was arrested by the police close to where the deceased lived. This happened three weeks before the murder. The motive was revenge for insulting a gang member. The deceased had a brother who was a member of Zone 2.
The defendant was identified as the stabber by the victim's best friend who was with him at the time of the murder. Kamara's defence was that he was falsely and deliberately misidentified. The evidence included cell site evidence, gang affiliation and CCTV material as well as the identifying witness. Kamara gave evidence at trial. He gave a no comment interview on arrest. He was unanimously found not guilty by the jury with his co-defendant after a five week trial at the Central Criminal Court.
This case has been covered online, including in Court News UK and Murder Map.
James Scobie QC is a member of the Garden Court Chambers Crime Team.
