Four members of a gang who went on a “ride out” into enemy territory and stabbed to death an innocent NHS worker have been jailed for life.
Vagnei Colubali, 23, Mohammad Jalloh, 19, David Ture, 18, and Alex Melaku, 18, were convicted of murdering David Gomoh and conspiracy to cause GBH with intent to another man who got away.
Mr Gomoh, 24, was talking to his girlfriend on his mobile phone when he was attacked by Ture, Jalloh and the teenager, who had got out of a stolen Dodge Caliber, being driven by Colubali.
The killers of David Gomoh
© Photo : Metropolitan Police / David Gomoh's killers
The four were part of the Northside Newham Gang and on the night of the murder had driven across the A13 arterial road - which marks an unofficial border - and into the territory of rival gangs from the E16 and E6 postcodes.
On Friday, 17 September, the Record of London, Mark Lucraft QC, ordered Colubali, to serve a minimum of 27 years in jail. Jalloh was given a tariff of 27 years, Ture must serve at least 26 years and Melaku was locked up for at least 21 years.
Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC told the court: “This was a ride out into enemy territory and they were looking for someone, anyone, to attack.”
A key piece of evidence against the gang was a “visual confession” - drawings Ture had made of the stabbing of Mr Gomoh, which included details which could only have come from someone who had been at the scene of the crime.
The Crown Prosecution Service said: "Ture's 'childish doodles' were recovered by the police in his bedroom drawer and showed the group at ‘Threemasons (sic) Road’ – the location of the killing. They also showed one of the gang members with an Armani man bag, which Colubali was seen wearing on CCTV."
David Ture's drawing of the attack on David Gomoh
© Photo : Metropolitan Police / Sketch of murder of David Gomoh
Jalloh, who was known by the streetname Mojo, and he and Melaku had both appeared in a video featuring members of the Woodgrange Gang and Chad Green Gang - both part of the Northside Newham Gang - in which they “boasted of their violent rivalry” with the opposition.
David Gomoh
© Photo : Metropolitan Police
Mr Glasgow said of Mr Gomoh’s injuries: “Both his carotid and his brachial artery were severed…There was no hope of survival and despite the best efforts of the trauma team who carried out emergency surgery in the road where he lay, he slowly bled to death in front of his horrified family.”
Mr Gomoh’s mother, Marian, lost her husband from COVID-19 three weeks before her son was murdered.
In a victim impact statement his mother recalled: "My husband died on 7 April and his body was still in the morgue when David was killed. I then had two bodies in the mortuary. The two men in my life."
She said: "I lie in bed awake at night thinking about the fear he felt in his last moments."
Mr Gomoh, who had earned a marketing degree from Southbank University, was a keyworker helping to keep NHS staff supplied with essential equipment during the pandemic.
In his sister's victim impact statement she said Mr Gomoh was "ambitious, funny and charming" and she said of the four: "They will have to live with being murderers."
She said it was hard to move on and she hoped the killers would eventually show some remorse.
CPS lawyer Louise Attrill said: “This case has highlighted a very stark reality of the tragedy that ensues from so called postcode killings and gang rivalries. These individuals planned to kill anyone they came across who they believed was from the opposing gang. David Gomoh was tragically caught in the middle of this senseless feud and, despite having no connection with gangs, was killed without hesitation or mercy."