Matalan raiders jailed at Old Bailey for store manager killing
ONE of the gang who stabbed Matalan manager Jamie Simpson to death in a bungled robbery in East London has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey today. Kobina Essel, 19, used a 10ins kitchen knife when he stabbed 33-year-old Jamie in the neck during the abortive raid
By Keir Mudie
ONE of the gang who stabbed Matalan manager Jamie Simpson to death in a bungled robbery in East London has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey today.
Kobina Essel, a 19-year-old from Poplar in London’s East End, used a 10ins kitchen knife when he stabbed 33-year-old Jamie in the neck during the abortive raid at the store in Dalston in March, 2008.
Essel was sentenced to a minimum 20 years for murder and 11 years for conspiracy to rob, the sentences to run together.
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Jammal Chambers, an 18-year-old from Poplar, recruited some of the gang members. He was given seven years.
Randy Osei-Owusu, 17, also of Poplar, was convicted of manslaughter, together with Simeon Jumah, 25, from Manor Park.
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Anthony Maina, 20, from Canning Town, had been on police bail at the time of the robbery after stabbing a teenager to death during another robbery five months earlier. He was later convicted for the murder of 17-year-old Rizwan Darbar. Today, Maina was given indeterminate sentences “for public protection.”
The gang had planned to steal �30,000 in weekend takings from the store, but fled with nothing.
Two others were found guilty of conspiracy. Roy Williams, 31, was a security guard at the store who tipped the gang off about the cash. He got 10 years. Duane Owusu, 20, the getaway driver, and was jailed for eight years.
