21st-century highwaymen face life
TWO moped thugs are facing life in prison after being convicted yesterday of murdering a charity worker during a violent robbery spree.
Relatives of victim Abdul Samad wept at the Old Bailey as Nathan Gilmaney, 19, and Troy Thomas, 18, were found guilty.
The teenagers stabbed Mr Samad, 28, despite him handing over his wallet and iPhone.
Gilmaney and Thomas then continued cruising west London, looking for further victims.
They were dubbed “21st-century highwaymen” after carrying out nine robberies in four hours on the night they killed Mr Samad, stabbing other victims during the robberies.
After the jury found them guilty yesterday Detective Inspector Shaun Fitzgerald, who led the inquiry, said: “There couldn’t be a more apt description. The teenagers believed they had the right to threaten and rob wherever they wanted, often stabbing their victims for no reason at all but to prove they could.
“Their behaviour is truly shocking. They had just killed a man and could hear his cries and the paramedics battling to save his life with surgery in the street did nothing to slow down their spree.”
Oliver Glasgow QC, prosecuting, told the trial they attacked their victims in a “brazen and shocking manner” for no reason other than “simple aggression and bloodlust”.
Devoted
He added: “They hoped to steal wallets and valuables from their victims and, where possible, they intended to take their victims’ mobile phones.”
He added Mr Samad had devoted his life “to helping the very sort of young men who took his life”.
He was attacked near his home in Paddington and after the stabbing, staggered to his front door, where he collapsed.
His father Fazal Miah and mother Layla Begum heard his cries and rushed outside.
By the end of their rampage last October, the killers’ pockets were stuffed with stolen valuables.
Gilmaney, the moped rider with his partner riding pillion, carried out the stabbings but the Crown’s case was one of joint enterprise.
Thomas admitted robbery, but denied any of the violence including murder, while Gilmaney admitted robbery and manslaughter.
The jury took 19 hours to reject their denials and find them both guilty of murder.
Judge Richard Marks QC remanded the teenagers in custody to be sentenced on June 15.
Yesterday the grieving fiancee of Mr Samad paid tribute to her “caring, kind, loving” future husband.
In a victim impact statement read to the court she said: “I felt like I died with Abdul that day. He took a part of me that will never come back.
“Abdul lived for his job of helping children; he was the change we needed to see in the world.”