No extra jail time for courtroom brawlers

Three killers who fought with another prisoner in the court cells will serve no extra time in jail.

Jordell Menzies, Quincy Ffrench and Louis Vandrose, all 29, stood trial for murder after Emmanuel Odunlami, 32, was stabbed to death for his Patek Phillipe watch.

Mr Odunlami was attacked while out celebrating his birthday at an event at Haz restaurant near St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London in the early hours of 2 May 2022.

A security guard had spotted Mr Odunlami wearing the Patek Philippe Nautilus watch which are worth up to £300,000 and filmed him wearing it.

He tipped off Menzies who tried to steal the watch outside the eatery.

Mr Odunlami, who worked in the music industry managing artists, tried to run away but Menzies caught up and stabbed him in the heart with a flick knife.

Menzies denied but was convicted of murder by a jury after a retrial in December 2023.

Ffrench and Vandrose denied and were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter earlier in the year.

The pair had both admitted robbery.

During the first Old Bailey trial in April 2023, the trio came to blows with Joseph Akapelwa, 29, after they spotted him in the cell area.

The fight had to be broken up by security guards.

Akapelwa had been charged with attempted murder in an unrelated case but was later acquitted.

Menzies, Ffrench and Vandrose, aka Lavell Adams-Robinson, all admitted affray in relation to the fight with Akapelwa.

Akapelwa had also been charged with affray but the prosecution offered no evidence and he was found not guilty.

Vandrose and Akapelwa had been accused of assaulting two custody officers but those charges were dropped after no evidence was offered by the prosecution.

Menzies, of High Wycombe, Bucks, is serving a 31-year prison sentence for murder while Ffrench, of Tottenham, and Vandrose of Islington were both locked up for 15 years for manslaughter.

They all admitted affray and Judge Benedict Keller sentenced them each to six months imprisonment to run concurrently with the jail terms they are serving.

In a heartfelt statement read out at the end of the Old Bailey trial Emmanuel’s mother Christiana told the court: ‘I have lost a beautiful son. TOKS [Emmanuel] was my light, my hope and my future.

‘He was extremely caring to my needs. He shared my pain and my joy. He inspired me in so many ways. He never discriminated against anyone. He was one in a trillion.

‘I have lost a real gem, and he was too special for this ugly world.’

She added that her son ‘was like an angel. He had so much planned for his children and was too young young to die.’

She said since Emmanuel’s death ‘I feel that what has happened is still punishing our family and the pain is not going to stop.

‘I’m still carrying the pain and I have lost my purpose of life. My heart beats for him and my heart aches for him every day.

Turning to her son’s killers, she said: ‘They have taken the joy out of my life and I’m always angry and I’m never like this. My heartbeat has changed, and I feel very angry with the world.’

The heartbroken mum added: ‘It’s hard to believe he’s dead. These people will come out of prison and lave their lives, but two boys have lost their dad and they just walk away. I don’t think that should happen

‘No-one should take a life, only God can do that. How can you take someone’s life? It’s so wrong.’