Bolt driver killers convicted

Two teenagers who stabbed a Bolt driver to death during a campaign of robberies are facing years in jail.

The killers, aged 18 and 19, knifed Gabriel Bringye, 37, after booking him on a stolen mobile phone, on 16 February 2021.

They carried out an almost identical robbery in north London a day earlier.

Cabbie Abdul Rahim was dragged from his car, savagely beaten and prayed in the face with a noxious substance.

The robbers then drove off in his minicab.

The youths, aged 18 and 19, who cannot be named, were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter after a trial which lasted more than three months.

The pair had earlier admitted conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to steal.

Two 16-year-old boys and a 17-year-old, were cleared of murder and manslaughter.

One of the 16-year-olds admitted conspiracy to steal while the 18-year-old and the other 16-year-old admitted having a bladed article.

A sixth boy, aged 15 at the time of the killing, is yet to stand trial.

Judge Angela Rafferty said: ‘I am going to sentence all of you on May 3 for those matters you were convicted of.

‘Be under no illusions, you are certain to receive some form of custodial sentence, but I want some more information about you before I sentence you.’

Mr Bringye’s partner Mariana Fazecas demanded better security measures on the anniversary of his death after claiming ‘common-sense health and safety measures still are not in place’.

In a joint statement, Ms Fazecas and the victim’s sister Renata Bringye said: ‘The criminal trial has been a traumatic ordeal and we are glad it is finally over, but there is no justice for Gabriel without wider change in the gig economy.

‘Gabriel was a loving partner, loyal brother, devoted uncle and dear friend to many. What has been taken from us can never be returned, never be made right.

‘But what we can and must do is make sure everything that can be done, will be done to save lives like Gabriel’s in future.

‘Corporations like Bolt who make billions on the backs of precarious workers, need to show some humanity, respect their basic rights and take more responsibility for the safety of customers and drivers alike.

‘That’s what Gabriel’s Campaign for Driver Safety is all about.’

Prosecutor Philip Evans said the killing was the culmination of a ‘campaign of similar robberies, which had been ongoing around London for several weeks.’

Mr Rahim, who worked for Swift Cars, was robbed after he was called to pick up passengers in High Road, Whetstone.

‘Mr Rahim was repeatedly punched,’ the prosecutor said.

‘He was also sprayed in the face with some kind of liquid, which caused pain in his eyes and blurred his vision. He was then pushed to the ground.

‘Mr Rahim saw one of the males jump into the driver’s seat of the vehicle and drive the vehicle away and crashed his car into nearby parked vehicles.

‘He did not see the other two males get into the vehicle and he did not see them again.

‘Mr Rahim shouted for assistance and a member of the public came out of his address to assist him. The police were then called.’

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the robbery, which showed Mr Rahim chasing after the car as it speeds off, smashing into a parked car.

The footage also showed a sprinting figure clamber into the car before it raced down the street.

The booking of Mr Rahim’s minicab was made from the mobile telephone of one of the killers.

‘Again, text messages regarding the booking were recovered by the police from the same Nokia mobile.

‘In particular, a message at 10:16pm on the 16th of February, confirming that a taxi is on its way and the company was called Swift Cars, the company Mr Rahim was employed by.’

Mr Bringye was attacked the next day after he received a booking in Tottenham.

‘He was met by this group of defendants who, instead of wanting a taxi, were in fact intent on robbing him of his car and other possessions,’ said Mr Evans.

‘Mr Bringye was just tragically unlucky that it was him who received that particular booking.

‘All of the defendants were assisting or encouraging those who did stab and they were all intent at the time of that stabbing or shortly before it on causing at least serious bodily harm to Mr Bringye.’

Mr Bringye bled to death after he was stabbed through the femoral artery in his thigh.

The 18-year-old and one of the 16-year-olds were later caught trying to dump blood-stained clothing in a bin outside a residential care home in Camden.

A teenage witness, who cannot be named, said he saw the 18-year-old cleaning two Rambo style knives in a room at the care home.

According to the witness there was a Facetime call between the 15-year-old and the 18-year-old.

The prosecutor said they argued and one of them said ‘We physically just murdered someone for no reason, like’.

One of the killers moaned that he had ‘f—-d up’ his life and got nothing from the murder, ‘not even a pack of chewing gum’, the court heard.

The two killers and one of the 16-year-olds were involved in a series of knifepoint robberies on cabbies in the month leading up to the attack on Mr Bringye.

Muhemmad Ali Ajaz was targeted after he accepted a job in Sussex Way, Archway, on 16 January.

‘While Mr Ajaz was waiting, a male on an electric scooter knocked on the window of his minicab and asked him where the cab was going,’ said Mr Evans.

‘Another four males then appeared and surrounded the minicab.

‘The males opened the boot of the taxi and they placed the electric scooter inside.

‘He realised that the boot of the vehicle had not been closed properly and got out of his vehicle to close it.

‘Two of the males got out of the minicab and followed him to the rear of the vehicle. One of those males produced a knife.

‘Mr Ajaz gave him the key to his car.

‘Five males then got into Mr Ajaz’s mini cab and drove off.’

The 18-year-old was identified from CCTV footage and arrested on 20 February 2021 at his home in Hemel Hempstead. Police found a Rambo knife in his garden.

The 19-year-old was arrested at his address in Golders Green on 3 March last year.

Police recovered an iPad recovered from his home and found messages between the 19-year-old and others on a ‘Telegram’ app discussing the murder.

The youths, aged 18 and 19, denied and were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

The pair earlier admitted conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to steal, between 16 January and 17 February 2021.

Both 16-year-olds were cleared of murder and manslaughter, but convicted of conspiracy to rob, while one was cleared of having a bladed article.

One of the 16-year-olds admitted conspiracy to steal while the 18-year-old and the other 16-year-old admitted having a bladed article.

The 17-year-old was cleared of murder and manslaughter but convicted of conspiracy to rob.