R v Samson Odegbune
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Lord Justice Leveson |
| Judgment Date | 15 May 2013 |
| Neutral Citation | [2013] EWCA Crim 711,[2013] EWCA Crim 822 |
| Date | 15 May 2013 |
| Docket Number | Cases No: 201201909B5; 201202809B5; 201203017B5; 201203029B5;201203031B5,No: 201201909, 3031, 3029, 3017, 2961, 2958, 2840, 2809/B4 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) |
[2013] EWCA Crim 711
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT
His Honour Judge Christopher Moss Q.C.
T20107210; T20207216
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Lord Justice Leveson
Mr Justice Foskett
and
Mr Justice Hickinbottom
Cases No: 201201909B5; 201202809B5;
201202840B5; 2012012958B5; 201202961B5;
201203017B5; 201203029B5;201203031B5
Robert Marshall Andrews Q.C. and Amelia Foshene for the Appellant Odegbune
Garry Green for the Appellant Richards
Charles Sherrard Q.C. for the Appellant Amoah
David Spens Q.C. and Polly Dyer for the Applicant Akra
George Payne for the Applicant Omeregie
Nicholas Corsellis for the Applicant Oderinwale
Jerome Lynch Q.C. for the Applicant Nwokeh
Benn Maguire for the Applicant Roberts
Mark Heywood Q.C. and Julian Evans for the Crown
Hearing date : 9 May 2013
Approved Judgment
At around 5.17 pm on Thursday 25 March 2010, Sofyen Belamouadden, a 15 year old schoolboy attending Henry Compton School in Fulham, was chased across Terminus Place at London Victoria Station by some twenty teenagers. He was caught at the top of the stairs to Victoria underground where he was attacked with bladed weapons, causing at least one cutting injury before he fell down the stairs into the ticket hall of the underground station. Whilst he was on the ground, a core group of those who had chased him ran down the stairs and effected a combined and lethal attack upon him. This included stabbing or cutting him with knives, kicking and punching him with force. The result was that Sofyen Belamouadden (to whom we shall now refer as the deceased) died.
The case has presented the criminal justice system with very real challenges. In the event, at the Central Criminal Court, His Honour Judge Christopher Moss Q.C. conducted no fewer than five trials (which also encompassed re-trials following jury disagreement). In the first trial, on 16 May 2011, Christopher Omoregi (now 19) and Obi Nwokeh (now 20) were convicted of murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm; Adonis Junior Akra (now 19), Femi Oderinwale (now 19) and Samuel Junior Roberts (now 20) were convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm; and Enoch Charles Amoah (now 20) was convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and violent disorder. In the second trial, on 11 August 2011, Samson Odegbune (now 19) was convicted of murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm; and Tyrone Richards (now 18) was convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and violent disorder. Richards was acquitted of murder upon the judge's direction; Amoah, Akra, Oderinwale and Roberts had each been charged with murder, the jury returning convictions for the lesser offence of manslaughter.
On 20 April 2012, the judge proceeded to sentence all offenders. Each of those convicted of murder (Omeregi, Nwokeh and Odegbune) was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure with a minimum term specified of 18 years and concurrent terms of 8 years detention in a young offender institution for conspiracy. Those convicted of manslaughter (Akra, Oderinwale and Roberts) received sentences of 12 years detention in a young offender institution; Akra and Roberts were sentenced to concurrent terms of 7 years detention for conspiracy; Oderinwale received 8 years concurrent for the same offence. Finally, Amoah was sentenced to 7 years detention in a young offender institution for conspiracy with a concurrent term of 3 years for violent disorder; Richards similarly received 7 years detention (in his case under s. 91 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000) with no separate penalty for violent disorder. In each case, time served was ordered to count. Odegbune, Amoah and Richards all appeal against sentence by leave of the single judge; Omeregi, Nwokeh, Akra, Oderinwale and Roberts all seek to renew their applications following refusal of leave.
It is appropriate to mention the others charged in connection with this incident. In separate trials Victoria Osoteku and Junior Bayode were convicted of manslaughter. Osoteku was sentenced to 12 years in a young offender institution with a concurrent term of 8 years for conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm; for reasons which are irrelevant to this application, Bayode has not yet been sentenced. Chris Goncalves, Tayo Emmanuel Ajayi and Amari Wood were convicted after a retrial of violent disorder and received 30 months, 30 months and 27 months respectively in a young offender institution; Lewis Ryan Sinclair, Olawale Olaribigbe, Selassie Ahiaku, and Melvin Mensah were sentenced to 2 years in a young offender institution following their guilty pleas to offences of violent disorder.
The Facts
The background was the simmering tension between pupils at St Charles' Catholic Sixth Form College ("the College group") and their associates, and others, predominantly from Hammersmith and Fulham ("the West London group"). There is no suggestion that the College group were other than a collection of individuals attending the college. It was forcefully contended on their behalf, however that the West London group constituted a street gang, known as GFL, short for "Gangsters for Life" or, possibly, "Guns for Life": it was said that they presented with a reputation for violence and confrontation.
At some prior to 24 March 2010, there had been an incident at a party in relation to a girl between members of the two groups (in which Odegbune was involved). On 24 March 2010, members of the College saw two members of the West London group (Raheem Keane and Andre Willis) in the food hall at Victoria Station. There was a short confrontation the upshot of which was that Melvin Mensah (from the College) received a bloody nose: Keane and Willis (one of whom shouted a threat although not one which was heard by the College youths) ended up being arrested for a short while.
Following this fight, there was clear evidence that the College group and the West London group envisaged another confrontation the following day: Mr Heywood described both sides as being involved in a pre-planned pitched encounter. Members of the College group communicated with one another using Facebook and mobile phones, as did the West London group. There was also communication between the groups, initially through intermediaries but eventually by contact (said by the Crown to be 'leader to leader') between Odegbune and Keane. Suffice to say, there was a considerable body of evidence showing the extent of such contact. It was said that the West London group would either be coming up to the College or would be at Victoria Station that afternoon. Once at college, on Thursday 25 March, the College group made more specific arrangements which amounted to a conspiracy to engage in an armed confrontation with the West London group later that day and to use weapons to cause grievous bodily harm. In the event, during the course of the day, the location for the planned encounter was confirmed as Victoria Station.
The College group went to Victoria Station on 25 March on two buses, and arrived at the height of the rush hour and in broad daylight. Between them, they were heavily armed with an array of knives, including a set of kitchen knives specifically purchased for the purpose that afternoon. Although it was said that they had to pass through Victoria Station on their way home (whereas the West London group did not), the College group congregated and waited at the end of Terminus Place on the corner furthest away from where they would have alighted from their bus and then continued their journey. Many were in dark clothing with hoods or hats. Shortly thereafter, the West London group appeared at the opposite end of Terminus Place. That group were no doubt also ready and one was seen with his hands aloft saying "Come on".
That confrontation commenced with Odegbune leading a charge of all those who subsequently became defendants chasing the West London group through Terminus Place, with weapons displayed. Odegbune himself was brandishing a samurai sword in front of him. Thereafter, the College group split with Odegbune, Richards, Oderinwale and others chasing Andre Zaplatel (one of the victim group) through Terminus Place. The other sixteen defendants chased the deceased who was associated with the West London group. By this time, he was isolated. As he approached the entrance to the underground station, he tripped and fell over a kerb stone, and his pursuers caught up with him. As events subsequently proved, the deceased was unarmed: what he was seen to drop was his Oyster card. At the entrance to the underground, he was confronted, stabbed, and bundled down the stairs. Most of the sixteen followed him into the underground station where, at the bottom of the stairs, the attack continued.
The attack in the underground lasted about twelve seconds and the deceased was left fatally wounded with no less than nine stab wounds to his body as his attackers from the College group made their escape. Most of them ran to a bus stop in Buckingham Palace Road where they boarded a C10 bus. When police officers boarded the bus at the next bus stop, amongst other weapons and potential weapons, they found two particular knives which it was later ascertained had been used to stab the deceased. One was in a bag that belonged to Omoregie, and the other...
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