Killer’s family weep as mother of this innocent murder victim shames them in court

A mother ordered her son’s drug dealing killers to look at his photograph as they were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Arsenal fan Imani Allaway-Muir, 22, was shot dead in front of children for revenge after one of the drug dealers was robbed of cocaine, iPhones and a Rolex.

Mr Allaway-Muir had had nothing to do with the robbery and was ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’ when he was gunned down near a children’s playground in Islington, north London in July 2020.

The killers used a Find My Phone app to locate the last known location of the phone and travelled there for revenge.

Demetrios Kyriacou, 35, who planned the hit when his drugs were taken was sentenced to a minimum of 31 years in jail.

Demetrios Kyriacou

Nathaniel Reece, 40, who pulled the trigger, was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years and two months.

Darren Dredge, 40 and Matthew Hardy, 35, were sentenced to 10 and seven and a half years for manslaughter, respectively.

Mr Allaway-Muir’s mother Keetha Allaway read a victim impact statement to court, calling her son ‘my eldest child but my biggest baby.’

His father Jason Muir stood beside her wearing an Arsenal jacket and holding a photograph of their son.

Delivering her comments looking straight at the killers in the dock she said: ‘I don’t know how to express this pain to all of you who’ve taken my life.

‘My son was a beautiful young man so full of life.

‘Now, everytime I close my eyes all I see is my son’s lifeless body covered in blood.

‘That little young man did nothing wrong and was innocent. He went out that day with no knowledge of any robbery.

‘It kills me to think of how scared he was when he saw them appear and shoot him. I know by the route he ran away he was trying to make his way home to me.

Darren Dredge

‘Not only did I have to witness him dying but so did both of his young brothers and his two little sisters.

‘The day all of you took this amazing boy’s life you not only destroyed his life but that of my other children. They have been crying daily due to the loss of their big brother.

‘I was once filled with such happiness and joy but now I can barely leave the house because I am consumed with sadness.

‘My little girl thinks it’s normal to be at a cemetery every day, she was only one when her brother was murdered.

Brandishing the photo of her son towards the killers, she said: ‘A handsome young man, this young man.

‘Look at him! Lying in a casket is something no parent should ever have to see.

‘No mother should ever have to bury their son. I can only ever dream what he would have become.’

Members of the killer’s families sat in the public gallery walked out in tears as she spoke.

After hearing the speech, one of the killers Nathaniel Reece instructed his lawyer to not put forward any mitigation to the judge on his behalf and request he was not given any credit for his guilty plea.

Pippa McAtasney, KC, said: ‘My client accepts what he has done and has specifically instructed me in the lunch break not to put forward any excuses on his behalf.’

James Nicholson

The Common Serjeant of London Judge Richard Marks, KC, said: ‘The killing occurred in a residential area where others and children were around.

‘What you did was ruthless and merciless, gunning down a completely innocent young man.’

Prosecutor Jacob Hallam KC said: ‘It was on Saturday 4 July in 2020 at 19 minutes past three that Imani Allaway-Muir was shot dead.

‘He was shot dead in a play area at the end of a residential cul-de-sac in London, N7.

‘The shooting was witnessed by several members so the public who happened to be in the area including young people.

‘The emergency services were called, they arrived at the scene and found Imani being looked after by members so the public.

He was by that stage unconscious and despite the efforts of the London ambulance service he was pronounced dead at 3.49pm, 30 minutes after he had been shot.

‘A post mortem examination revealed four bullet wounds, one to the right buttock, one to the left forearm, one to the left shoulder, and the last a glancing wound to the left ear.

‘It was the first of those wounds, to the right buttock, which was fatal to Imani.

‘This killing was revenge for a robbery in which Imani had played no part whatsoever.’

Mr Hallam earlier said the killers had met at Kyriacou’s Islington flat on the 6 Acres estate to discuss the planned shooting.

‘Down the alleyway they went, out of the alleyway they came, and there Mr Reece shot Imani Allaway-Muir dead.

‘When Reece opened fire, Imani Allaway-Muir was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

Matthew Hardy

Reece admitted murder while Kyriacou and others was convicted by an Old Bailey jury at trial in May.

As the verdicts were announced at the trial the defendants shouted abuse at the jury while relatives of the victim sobbed in the well of the court.

One of the killers yelled: ‘You haven’t got a clue. You don’t know what you’re doing. I’ve got four babies.’

The court heard that Reece, Kyriacou and Dredge were ‘prolific drug dealers’ and that Kyriacou would purchase between one and three kilograms of cocaine every three to four weeks spending £30,000 per kilo for a £4,000 profit.

Ms Allaway said having to sit through her son’s trial was ‘too much’.

She said: ‘Having to sit through his trial, having to revisit that day when I just wasn’t ready and hearing the details of what happened to my son for the first time in front of detached strangers and the men that killed him was horrifying.

‘To those involved it may have been just another murder case but for me this was my son.

‘You will never understand how painful a trial is to sit through and to remain composed- at times it was just too much.

‘None of the defendants showed any remorse or compassion for Imani.

‘At the very least these men should have pleaded guilty, saving us from the added heartache.

‘Despite being in prison they all get to see their children- all of that was taken from me.

James Nicholson, 36, will be sentenced for manslaughter later this year.

Nathaniel Reece

Hardy’s father William Hardy, 71, along with Dean Walker, 33, and Hassan Hamza, 27, were cleared of both charges after the trial which lasted more than two months.

Dean Walker was sentenced today to nine months imprisonment suspended for 18 months for conspiracy to supply drugs.

Kyriacou’s sentence also reflected convictions for conspiracy to supply class A drugs, which he admitted.

Reece’s sentence included unauthorised possession of a knife and affray in prison, which he admitted. He denies intent to supply drugs and will be tried at a later date.

Dredge’s sentence included conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property, which he admitted.

Kyriacou, Dredge, Matthew Hardy, William Hardy, Walker, Nicholson and Hamza, all from Islington, all denied murder and manslaughter.

Reece, also of Islington, admitted murder.