PALMER: LIFE SENTENCES FOR CRACK DEALING KILLERS

A gang of callous crack dealers who gunned down the wrong man while hunting a rival drug pusher are facing life sentences.
 
Kenrick Wickham, 36, was bundled into a black Audi A3 before being shot in the back of the head as he begged for mercy.
 
Mr Wickham was also shot twice in the neck after being mistaken for his best friend, crack dealer O’Neill ‘Power’ Miller.
 
Devana Palmer, 21, and Samir Yusuf, 24, denied murder but were convicted after a retrial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on Kurt McLean, 27, who had already admitted plotting to rob the victim.
 
Anthony McKenzie, 23, had already been convicted of Mr Miller’s murder after an earlier trial at the Old Bailey.

He will be sentenced with Palmer and Yusuf on Monday (17).
 
Terrified neighbours told how the heard shouts of ‘murder, murder’ when Jamaican-born Mr Wickham was shot dead in the early hours of June 23 last year.
 
He was pronounced dead at the scene in an alleyway just minutes from his home in Eaton Court, West Dulwich, south-east London.
 
Prosecutor Simon Denison QC said: ‘He had been shot in close range, pleading for his life, before three bullets were fired in close range, one in the back of his head and two in the back of his neck.
 
‘It is apparent that this was related to the trade in class A drugs, particularly crack cocaine.
 
‘It became apparent that Kenrick Wickham may not have been the intended victim.’
 
Just hours before Mr Wickham’s murder, Yusuf arranged to meet Miller in Kennington to buy three ounces of crack, worth about £2,500.
 
‘Mr Miller was staying with Mr Wickham in a flat in West Dulwich,’ said Mr Denison.
 
‘Telephone records show that Yusuf was in contact with Mr Miller in the minutes leading up to this murder.
 
‘The drugs were to be taken out of the flat to the car waiting outside where a simple and quick exchange of money for drugs was to take place.
 
‘But it was Kenrick Wickham, not O’Neill Miller, who took the drugs outside.
 
‘It wasn’t just Yusuf waiting in that car, it was a group of four people who were there, including McLean, Palmer and McKenzie.
 
‘What O’Neill didn’t know was that the defendants had no intention of buying any drugs.
 
‘They were intent on robbing and, we say, killing O’Neill Miller.
 
‘Mr Wickham went outside with the drugs to do the deal. He was clearly expecting a quick exchange as he went outside with no shoes on and didn’t take any keys with him.’
 
Mr Miller saw his friend bundled into the back of the car and gave chase, the court heard.
 
‘He jumped into his own car and drove to the end of the alleyway just around the corner,’ said Mr Denison.
 
‘He saw Yusuf’s car and the defendants and McKenzie all out of the car standing around Kenrick Wickham.
 
‘He saw McKenzie with a gun in his hand and he heard shots’.
 
Moments after the shooting, the defendants were arrested by police after being spotted acting suspiciously in Yusuf’s black Audi A3.
 
The blood-stained bullet that passed through Mr Wickham’s head was discovered in the car, as well as heavy duty handcuffs and a balaclava.
 
Forensic scientists also said there was a ‘high level’ of gun-shot residue in the car and on the defendants’ clothing.
 
McLean, of (115B) Vassall Road, Oval, south London; Palmer, of (21) Curzon Road, Muswell Hill, north London; and Yusuf, of (Flat 12, Lulworth House) Dorset Road, Brixton, south London, all denied murder but admitted conspiracy to rob.

Prosecutors have yet to decide whether McLean will face a second retrial.
 
McKenzie, formerly of (80) Falling Lane, West Drayton, northwest London, admitted conspiracy to rob and was convicted of murder.

ends