Man who lured victim to his death in Battersea jailed

A member of a street gang who stabbed a young man to death after luring him to a bogus drug deal has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Chukwurunim Ozour, 20, was one of four men who attacked Mahad Mohammed in a stairwell on a south London estate in June 2011.

Mr Mohammed, 20, screamed as he tried to escape before collapsing near the entrance of a block of flats in Battersea.

He died shortly after the attack.

About £100 was discovered on Mr Mohammed's body and a post-mortem examination revealed he suffered stab wounds to his back, hip, chest and neck.

Mr Mohammed, of Sporle Court, Battersea, was in the area voluntarily after agreeing to meet the defendants, the Old Bailey heard.

James Scobie QC, for the defendant, said the victim thought he was buying a bag of cannabis when in fact it was a "weighted" package designed to "dupe" him.

"Obviously the aim was to trick him," he said, and "it went wrong".

The court heard Ozour, of Mitcham, Surrey, stood on a stairway during the attack to stop Mr Mohammed from escaping the ambush while Jermaine Sawyers stabbed him four times.

Ozour "provided sanctuary" for the gang members in his home nearby when police arrived.

When Ozour was questioned by officers he lied about where he was and what he knew, the court heard.

Mr Scobie said his alibi was "blown apart very quickly" because of CCTV footage and police discovered blood on his trainers.

Ozour, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter last week, was 18 at the time of the attack and will serve his sentence in a young offenders institution.

Judge Marks QC said: "You provided sanctuary to your co-accused, you assisted in a clean-up operation and you perverted the course of justice."

After the attack, the Metropolitan Police identified Sawyers, Cori Lindsey and Omar Harrison from CCTV footage and, during searches of properties linked to the suspects, found blood-stained clothing.

Sawyers, 19, of no fixed address, and Lindsey, 18, of Wandsworth, south London, were found guilty of murder and given life sentences in July.

Omar Harrison, 19, of Kenmore Road, Harrow, north London, was found guilty of manslaughter in June and jailed for nine years.