32 years for the bike hitman

A Somali motorbike assassin who shot a father-to-be in the head in revenge after £7,000 worth of cannabis was stolen was jailed for at least 32 years.

Pillion passenger Mahad Ibrahim, 27, fired twice at Tinodiwanashe Makwanya, 24, who was sat in VW Golf outside Fairfield Halls in Croydon.

One of the bullets killed ‘Tino’ and another hit his friend, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

Ibrahim chased the Golf through Croydon town centre at 70mph and only stopped when they realised the driver was rushing the dying victim to hospital.

Bike driver Stephen Weatherly, 42, would also have been convicted of the murder on 9 June last year but he killed himself at Thameside Prison.

Judge Nicholas Goose told Ibrahim: ‘The background to this murder was based in a dispute in relation to the theft of drugs.

‘Whilst I cannot be sure of the true value, there has been no real dispute that at some point before this shooting 1kg of cannabis, to a value of £7,000, was stolen.

‘It was that act which led to the careful and premeditated planning by you and Stephen Weatherley to carry out this attack upon the occupants of the VW Golf in he centre of Croydon in front of members of the public.

‘Were it not for the death of Stephen Weatherley, before this trial started, he would have stood trial with you and would, in my judgment, have been convicted like you.

The judge added:’In the victim personal statement by the deceased’s mother, Mrs Tressie Makwanya, she describes movingly the profound effect on her and the deceased’s family his death has caused.

The deceased’s partner has given birth to his son since his death. That child will grow up never knowing his father. Mrs Makwanya says “no day goes by without me crying”.

‘The seriousness of this matter was particularly high because it involved the use of a firearm.

‘It involved a significant degree of planning and it was carried out in the centre of Croydon in front of members of the public.

‘This was a matter were the intention was to kill by shooting. The firearm used to fire those two bullets was a self-loading handgun and it has never been recovered. It remains in circulation for criminal purposes.

‘Two shots were fired from the motorbike and one struck the deceased in the head causing a fatal injury.’

‘The bike only gave up its chase when the car arrived at the hospital.’

The victim was enjoying a night out with friends a Reggae Grill in South Norwood as the killers picked up a weapon from a house in New Addington.

Ibrahim and Weatherley had been seen entering a branch of betting shop Paddy Power around half an hour prior to the shooting.

The trainers Ibrahim wore on the bike had a distinctive material at the top of each heel- exactly the same as the ones he was wearing in the bookies.

He denied involvement and claimed he was at home at the time of the killing.

Ibrahim, of Columbine Avenue, Croydon, denied but was convicted of one count of murder. He will spend a minimum of 32 years in prison.
ends