Relatives wail as drill rappers get 23 years each

A gang of drill rappers including a gunman in a clown mask have each been jailed for 23 years after they were caught in a car packed with weapons on a mission to hunt down rivals.

Lekan Akinsoji, 20, Darnell Joseph-Newill, 21, Nathaniel Lewis, 23, and Troy Ifill, 22, made drill videos bragging about killing their rivals.

The four were ‘tooled up’ with a sawn-off shotgun as well as a terrifying ‘Zombie’ knife and a pickaxe as they drove through enemy territory.

Their BMW had been kitted out with false plates and they ditched their mobile phones to try and beat any attempt to trace their movements.

But they were spotted by an armed police patrol who pursued them during a mile-long chase through the streets of Leytonstone, east London.

Front seat passenger Akinsoji wearing a white clown mask, took aim with the shotgun and the officer behind the wheel pulled out his Glock and fired four shots through the BMW’s windscreen.

His colleagues also fired their weapons, but the dramatic shoot-out was only ended when the car was blocked by an oncoming vehicle after turning the wrong way down a one-way street.

Judge Mark Dennis QC told the defendants: ‘It is not without significance that the defendants were driving around the area affiliated with the E11 gang, a gang identified as a rival gang in one of their drill rap videos.

‘This was planned and organised violence.

‘The offence involved five participants in what was to be a group attack late at night in public streets

‘The firearm was a sawn off single barreled shotgun.

‘It was found to be loaded with a live cartridge, cocked, and ready to fire.’

Akinsoji, Joseph-Newill,Ifil and Lewis were each jailed for 26 years.

Friends and relatives gasped with shock in the packed public gallery as the sentence was announced.

Some supporters burst into tears and wailed loudly as the four were led to the cells.

The court heard that Lewis was in breach of a 24 month suspended sentence for possession of heroin with intent to supply.

‘The prosecution case is that these four defendants, plus the driver, were on what is known as a ‘ride-out’,’ said prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC.

‘This is where members or associates of one gang drive to the territory of another gang, often in a stolen vehicle, with the intention of causing really serious injury or even death to any member or presumed member of the opposing gang.

‘The arsenal of weapons found in the stolen car evidencing, we suggest, their obvious intention that night.

‘During the pursuit, the front seat passenger of the BMW stuck a shortened shotgun out of his window and pointed it at the following police vehicle.’

He added: ‘The white face reminded the officer of the Hollywood film ‘Heat’ and it looked like a clown’s face.’

Police officers recovered the shortened shotgun with cartridges nearby, the ‘Zombie’ knife and a pickaxe purchased from the ‘knifewarehouse’ website.

Three other blades were seized from the gang members or from near the car.

Akinsoji and Lewis have links to the Woodgrange Gang from Forest Gate while Joseph-Newill and Ifill are affiliated with the Stratford Gang from the same area.

‘During the last 18 months or so, the Stratford Gang, Woodgrange Gang and a gang called Chadd Green have formed an alliance under the name ‘Northside Newham’,’ he added.

The four have appeared in a number of drill videos, with Akinsoji rapping in one: ‘We ride, we ride to kill, Woodgrange gang are serious about violence.’

In another clip he brags: ‘Any rival gang member I see I’ll kill, four gang members in a car they are serious guys that will kill rival gang member.’

Mr Orchard said the men had ‘an armoury of weapons ready for immediate usage’ and were equipped with gloves and headwear to protect them from being identified.

A can of petrol was also left in the boot in order to torch the car and destroy any evidence of their planned attack.

‘They had prepared carefully but they hadn’t banked on being spotted by the three armed officers,’ Mr Orchard said.

All four men denied possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and conspiring to cause GBH with intent but were unanimously convicted by the jury.

Akinsoji was cleared of using a firearm with intent to resist arrest during the same incident on 26 July last year.

Lewis and Ifil had earlier admitted possessing a firearm when prohibited.

The driver of the BMW managed to flee the scene and has yet to be apprehended.

Akinsoji, of Dagenham, Joseph-Newill, of Stratford, Lewis, of Forest Gate, and Ifill, also from Stratford, denied but were convicted of possessing a firearm with intent and conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm.