DEALERS IN DEATH MUST BE STOPPED
Second fatal stabbing with knife bought from site run by ex Junior Apprentice star
A 17-YEAR-OLD drug dealer murdered a dad with one of 79 knives he bought online from a company that previously sold a sword to another teenage killer.
Rayis Nibeel was sentenced to 20 years’ jail last week for the September 2023 stabbing of Omar Khan, 38, in Luton, Beds.
Nibeel set up an account in his mother’s name but used his own bank account to buy most of the weapons, worth £1,200, from online shop DNA Leisure, run by Adam Eliaz, 31.
In 2010 aged 17, Mr Eliaz was on TV’s Junior Apprentice.
Nibeel’s haul included 39 hunting knives, 15 machetes and 12 swords, which he sold on and have not been recovered. In 2022, Kanda, 16, was murdered with a sword, one of 26 weapons bought from DNA Leisure by another boy, Prabjeet Veadhesa, 16, using his mother’s name.
The killing in Wolverhampton, West Mids, was a case of mistaken identity. Ronan’s mother Pooja told the Mirror yesterday: “I am not surprised that another underage boy has managed to get his hands on a whole arsenal of weapons so easily.
“DNA Leisure holds no accountability for what their dangerous trade does. The Government has enabled companies like DNA Leisure to profit off my family’s suffering.”
DNA Leisure’s website yesterday still featured knives, swords, machetes, axes and crossbows.
Any over-18 can buy one of the weapons with chilling names including Predator, Stopper and Rambo, for less than £10.
Det Insp Justine Jenkins, of Bedfordshire Police, who led the investigation into Mr Khan’s murder, said: “I’m always surprised that weapons like that can be sent in the post.”
Sentencing Nibeel and fellow murderer Umer Choudhury, 18, at St Albans crown court on Friday, Mrs Justice Foster said Nibeel had no legitimate use for the 79 knives he had bought for more than £1,200.
She told Nibeel, like his accomplice a Luton resident: “You sold weapons to make extra money, and armed yourself because of your drug dealing.”
Mr Justice Akhlaq Choudhury, who sentenced Veadhesa and fellow killer Sukhman Shergill to life in WolverRonan hampton last year, said: “It is disturbing that a 16-year-old could so easily purchase such items online.”
It was reported Post Office staff did not check the murderer’s ID.
Speaking at a family home in Watford, Herts, yesterday, a man claiming to be Mr Eliaz’s father said he moved to Canada three years ago.
He added: “People are dying from cars, what are you going to do, take cars out of the road? It pays the bills.”
Mr Eliaz said yesterday: “We comply with all current UK legislation relating to the sales of bladed articles, including the laws relating to remote sales and age verification.
“The people in question committed fraud. We used an age-verified courier service to deliver the parcel. They did not fulfil their obligation. We did not break the law in any way.”