Four gang members convicted of brutal killing of NHS worker David Gomoh
11 August 2021, 12:40 | Updated: 11 August 2021, 16:07
Four gang members have been convicted of the brutal killing of young NHS worker David Gomoh.
The 24-year-old was stabbed repeatedly in the street in April last year before staggering back to his East London family home and dying surrounded by his family.
Jurors heard he had nothing to do with gangs, but was targeted in a feud involving the "petty but fatal game of one-upmanship" seen on the capital's streets.
David Ture, 19, of no fixed address; Vagnei Colubali, 22, of Cambridge; Muhammad Jalloh, 19, of no fixed address, and a 17 year-old boy from Telford, Shropshire, were found guilty of Mr Gomoh's murder after a trial at the Old Bailey.
They were also convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent over another man who got away but his identity is uncertain.
All four denied involvement.
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Investigators found sketches by one of Mr Gomoh's killers which revealed a "picturebook story" of what happened in the build up to the killing.
Mr Gomoh, a marketing graduate who worked in NHS procurement, was stabbed on April 26 last year as he spoke on the phone to his girlfriend.
The court heard during the four gang members' trial that he was picked at random by the Northside Newham Gang in order to send a message to their rivals, the Custom House and Beckton gangs.
They changed their clothes and used a stolen car with fake number plates before travelling to south Newham to find a target.
Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said the murder was not a case of mistaken identity. Instead the attackers had no care for who they killed, just where their victim had come from, he told the court.
"What had David Gomoh done to deserve such a fate? He had the misfortune to live in an area of London that is frequented by rival gangs," Mr Glasgow said.
The four initially chased the unidentified man but he managed to get away.
Within an hour, they came across Mr Gomoh, who had left his address in Custom House to go to the supermarket.
CCTV: Gang chase man before random murder of David Gomoh
His girlfriend heard someone demand "where are you from" and what seemed to be a struggle.
Mr Gomoh sustained multiple stab wounds in Freemasons Road and his attackers fled in a car drive by Colubali. He staggered home but bled to death in front of his family.
Colubali was linked to the murder scene by a pair of sunglasses left at the scene which had his DNA on it.
A second pair of glasses inside the getaway car, which was discarded, had Jalloh's DNA on it while drawings, showing young men committing a stabbing to attack their rivals, were found in Ture's bedroom.
These had the location of the murder and the clothes warn by the gang members.
The four are to be sentenced on September 17.
