Three men involved in a fight with a man which resulted in his death have been jailed for more than 30 years at the Old Bailey this week.
Jordache Smith-Challis, 20, of Bexhill Road, Brighton, was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years for manslaughter and 7 years for conspiracy to rob, to run concurrently.
Lance Sloley, 23 of Broughton Road, Thornton Heath, was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter and 8 years for conspiracy to rob, to run concurrently.
Shyheim Green, 20 of Joshua Close, Croydon, Surrey, was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter and 8 years for conspiracy to rob to run concurrently.
A fourth man, Mickyle Bromfield, 24 of Field Lane, Brentford, was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Two other men, Marcus El-Alfy, 18, of Vincent Close, Bromley, and [E] Vishal Deowram, 18, of Wharfedale Gardens, Thornton Heath were acquitted of all offences.
The court heard that police were called to Coniston Road, Downham, at 9pm on 13 July, 2014 following reports of a fight in the street.
Officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene and found 22-year-old Afyon Saint-Hilaire in the rear of a car with stab wounds. Medical staff battled to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 9.43pm.
A post-mortem examination held the following day at the Princess Royal University Hospital gave the cause of death as shock and haemorrhage and a stab wound to the leg.
The police investigation found that shortly after 8.30pm, five men who had driven to the McDonald’s on Bromley Hill entered the restaurant and made their way to the rear of the premises. They remained there for a short period before leaving.
On leaving, Sloley, Smith-Challis and Green entered the vehicle they had arrived in and drove off in the direction of Coniston Road. El-Alfy and Deowram walked away from the restaurant and headed in the same direction as the car.
Contact was made via telephone between Afyon and El-Alfy at 8.48pm and Afyon and his friend Mickyle Bromfield made their way to Coniston Road.
Whilst waiting for Afyon to arrive, the car containing Sloley, Smith-Challis and Green was seen shortly after 20:50hrs driving down Coniston Road and then turning left into Ashgrove Road. It turned around at the end of the road and drove back in the direction of the McDonald’s before stopping and parking close by.
Sloley, Smith-Challis and Green got out of the car and made their way slowly up to the corner of Coniston Road. They briefly paused before continuing up the road.
At this point Afyon and Bromfield were already at the location. Within moments of Sloley, Smith-Challis and Green arriving and joining El-Alfy and Deowram a fight ensued. The incident unfolded in the middle of the road and was witnessed by a number of terrified witnesses.
Afyon, who was seated in the rear of El-Alfy’s car, which had been left at the location earlier that evening, received two stab wounds to his right leg.
Bromfield got out of the car they had travelled in and threatened the five men with a gun; this caused the group to back away. The gun was fired in the process.
Sloley, Smith-Challis and Green fled the scene and drove off heading in the direction of Bromley Hill. El-Alfy and Deowram got back into their vehicle and drove off at speed from Coniston Road towards Bromley Hill.
Afyon managed to get into the driver’s seat of his car and he and his friend drove a short distance up Coniston Road where he crashed. Members of the public who saw the crash called police. The first officers on the scene administered first aid until the LAS arrived. Attempts to save Afyon were unsuccessful and he died at the scene.
Detective Inspector Richard Leonard, of the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “This was a case of robbery that went very wrong and ended with the death of a young man in front of horrified onlookers. I am pleased that the jury has found these men guilty and will no doubt be given lengthy sentences to reflect the role that they played.”
El-Alfy, Sloley and Smith-Challis were all arrested on 14 July 2014. El-Alfy was charged with murder and robbery whilst Sloley and Smith-Challis were charged with murder and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Deowram was arrested on 16 July 2014 with Green arrested the following day. Both were charged with murder and conspiracy to commit robbery.
