Three ‘expendable useful idiots’ jailed for life for gang punishment killing in Paddington
Three “expendable useful idiots” have been jailed for life for carrying out a punishment killing amid infighting within a violent street gang. Adnan Saleh suffered catastrophic injuries when he was stabbed in Paddington, north-west London, on the evening of June 11 last year. He died some five months later on November 29 last year having never recovered consciousness. The Old Bailey heard how Mr Saleh was “lured” into a dead-end cobbled mews where he was attacked by Steven Woods and Majid Kebire with Fadel Dabbous providing back up. The 28-year-old victim was heard shouting “you’ve killed me” before he fled, drenched in blood. He sought refuge first in a nearby restaurant then ran into Sale Place where he collapsed. Mr Saleh had suffered catastrophic damage to his brain and never regained consciousness. Following a trial, Dabbous, 19, Woods, 27, and Kebire, 22, all from north-west London, were found guilty of murder. Previously, Woods and Dabbous had pleaded guilty to violent disorder and all three had admitted possession of knives. On Tuesday, the defendants were each jailed for life with Woods and Kebire given minimum terms of 22 years, and Dabbous at least 18 years. Judge John Hillen said the link between the defendants and Mr Saleh was a long-established gang called the Lisson Green Men. He said: “In my judgment an internal gang dispute, and consequential punishment of one side by the other, forms the background to this murder.” He told the defendants: “I am satisfied so that I am sure that none of the three of you were the instigators, the prime planners or the directors of this violent attack upon Adnan Saleh. “All three of you were treated as expendable useful idiots by a senior or seniors, elders as they are called, of the Lisson Green Gang. “The punishment of Adnan Saleh was motivated by an injury to one such person, and the orchestration and direction of the stabbing was done by another or others. “You were used to do the dirty work, to cover for that other or those others, and then left to face the consequences.”
The judge added: “Of course, Adnan Saleh was no angel, he was not an innocent, he was no stranger to knife crime. “But we will never now know whether he would have turned his life around; on the evidence of his loved ones, he certainly had qualities which indicated that possibility.” He noted a statement by Mr Saleh’s girlfriend, who he was due to marry the month he died, describing him as “funny, caring and family oriented”. His mother said in a statement: “Adnan’s life wasn’t the only one that was lost that day, you’ve taken mine, his mother’s and his family’s life. We’ve begun our life sentence.” Detective Inspector Marcus Jones, of Scotland Yard, said: “My thoughts are with Adnan’s family. “It cannot be easy to listen to how these three men planned the last moment of their loved one’s life. “I hope that their conviction can provide some comfort.”
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