Man jailed for life after designer bag helps snare him

A man's been jailed for life after his designer bag helped snare him.

Dualla Abdi, 21, failed to ditch the luxury accessory he was carrying when he fatally stabbed Tyreece Scott, 24, in Hounslow, west London, shortly before 1am last January 16.

Having disposed of his clothes after stabbing Mr Scott in the chest, he could not be parted with the valuable bag which helped to identify him, the Old Bailey heard.

Following a five-week trial, Abdi, from Acton, was found guilty of murder and having a blade, and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years on Thursday.

His accomplice and getaway driver Ben Laing, 24, from Feltham, was also found guilty of murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years by Judge John Hillen KC.

He said: "The facts of the case bring to light yet again two crimes often overlapping that can properly be called a plague on society in general and this great city and its suburbs in particular - drug dealing and knife crime."

"Yet again a judge has to sentence young men who took away the life of another young man with a knife," he said.

"Nothing I can do or say can bring back Tyreece Scott. No sentence can place a value on his life."

Mr Scott was "no angel" but had been "vulnerable and defenceless" when he was attacked and left to die "alone and scared", he said.

The judge added: "We don't know how or why and whether he would turn his life around. He had qualities that indicated that possibility - he was a young man who was caring and full of life."

"He was not acting in an aggressive manner or posed a threat to you."

At their Old Bailey sentencing, members of Mr Scott's heartbroken family spoke of the young man they knew as kind, gentle and loyal, with "big hopes and dreams".

His mother Lynette Phillip said she struggled to understand how and why her son was attacked in such an "evil, cold and callous" way.

She told the court: "Tyreece was 6ft 3in and despite his size he was the gentlest person I know. He was loving, kind, loyal and funny, and he had the most amazing cheeky smile.

"Ty was only 24 years old and he had his whole life ahead of him. He had so many dreams and aspirations."

Pointing to a photograph of his coffin, she said: "This picture is the outcome of what carrying a knife leads to and the daily consequences of knife crime.

"I hope that one day no other person will have to feel the way I do and have to bury their child before their time because of callous and cowardly people like Dualla Abdi and Ben Laing."

Addressing the defendants in the dock, grandmother Irma Phillip said: "Tyreece was a beautiful soul, full of kindness and love. He was a bright young man with a future full of promise who should have had the chance of outlive me, to grow and to thrive.

"But because of your senseless and cruel actions that future was taken from him, and from all of us who loved him so deeply."

The court had heard how Abdi and Laing had driven up beside the victim and got out.

Abdi delivered the fatal blow but Laing was standing beside him, jurors were told.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC had told jurors the background to the murder was linked to drug dealing and Mr Scott had been operating on rival territory.

She had said: "We will never know the precise reason why Tyreece Scott died that night. There is no evidence that he knew the other defendants or had met them before.

"Drug dealing is an ugly, competitive business in which dealers protect their 'turf' at any cost. It was Tyreece Scott's exposure to that world which led to his murder."

Reda Mohamed, 24, from Hounslow, west London, and Morgan Allen, 29, from Chertsey, Surrey, were convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Mohamed and Allen were each jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Detective Inspector Paul Fagence, who led the investigation, said:

“Drug dealing is an ugly business which has cost Tyreece his life.

"The case is a tragic reminder of how the supply of drugs has devastating consequences on communities.

“While there was no evidence to suggest Tyreece knew the defendants, it was the combination of CCTV, mobile phones and ANPR technology which checks vehicles of interest which helped us build a compelling case against these defendants.

"Our thoughts remain, as ever, with Tyreece’s friends and family. We hope they can now find a level of peace to move forward with their lives.”

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.