Rapper gloats as teenager fights for his life

A teenage drill rapper who  reenacted stabbing a rival in a music video after ambushing the victim while he was ordering a takeaway is facing jail.

Joshua Erorh, 18, who raps under the name Lil MDot, knifed the 21-year-old in the heart outside a fast food shop on New Cross Road, New Cross, southeast London, late on 14 March.

Erorh mistakenly identified the victim as a gang rival and made references to the food order he had placed moments in a brazen music video recorded after the attack.

The teenager hid the blade by covering his hand with a plastic bag and sneaking up to the 21-year-old, stabbing twice into his chest.

The victim was initially oblivious to how severe his injuries were, and ran after Erorh with his brother before collapsing in the street.

His sibling was then stopped by police on the way to the hospital after officers spotted him driving frantically with the 21-year-old bleeding heavily in the backseat.

Surgeons performed open heart surgery on the roadside and took him to hospital for further treatment. The victim remains in a life-threatening condition, nearly nine months later.

Erorh, of Courtney Road, Grays, denied but was unanimously convicted of causing grievous bodily harm by a Kingston Crown Court jury.

He was cleared of attempted murder and will be sentenced on 8 February next year.

Erorh, who has hundreds of thousands of views for his songs on YouTube, was friends with rappers Leoandro Osemeke and Myron Yarde, who were stabbed to death within months of each other in 2016.

The pair, aged 16 and 17, were friends and performed under the names Showkey and MDot.

In his 2018 song G to the B, Erorh raps: ‘I was 13 man, I didn’t know a lot, all I knew was to back my shank [knife] and chase opps [rivals].

‘2016 man two of my bros dropped, R.I.P Sho Sho, RI.P Mdot.’

Detective Constable Jamie Layton, the investigating officer from South East area’s CID, said: ‘This was a shocking act of violence that could have cost a man’s life, and my team and I were committed to bringing Erorh to justice.

‘I want to praise the police officers that stopped the car and provided the victim with initial first aid and CPR, while they waited for emergency health workers to arrive on the scene.

‘Had it not been for the brilliant efforts of the medics, the victim may have died from his injuries.

‘However, his life and his family’s life has now been changed forever due to this brutal act of violence and he continues to fight for his life.

‘I hope that the conviction of Erorh, and the sentence that will follow, will send out a clear message to those all too willing to engage in violence that it will simply not be tolerated.

‘No good can ever come from carrying a knife.