Upcoming trials and inquests
TOTTENHAM TURKS MURDER TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey to start on 7 October.
Jan Mercan, 23 (born 7 August 2001) is charged with the murder of Talip Guzel in White Hart Lane, Tottenham, on 30 July 2023. Stanislava Kukusheva, 35 (04.02.89) of Compton Crescent, N17 has been charged was charged with perverting the course of justice; assisting an offender and possession of a prohibited weapon. Guzel was involved in the abduction, torture and murder of Koray Alpergin in Oct 2022.
NEWHAM GANG MURDER TRIAL
Jury out at Old Bailey
Lekan Akinsoji, 26 , and Sundjata Keita, 26, are accused of murdering Ahmed Deen-Jah who was stabbed in Freemasons Road, Custom House on 2 April 2017. Ahmed’s brother, Abubakarr ‘Junior’ Jah, 18, was also murdered in April 2021. Awadh Saleh and Rio Burton-Devine – from the Chadd Green gang – were convicted of his murder. Anthony Orchard KC prosecuting. James Scobie KC defending Lekansoji.
Reporting restrictions in place.
PREGNANT WOMAN MURDER TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 8 October 2025.
Shaine March, 45, from Surrey Quays in south-east London, is charged with murdering his girlfriend Alan Odysseos, who was pregnant.
LADBROKE GROVE ATTEMPTED MURDER TRIAL
Trial at the Old Bailey underway (4-5 weeks).
A man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after an eight-year-old girl and her father, aged 34, were injured in a shooting in Ladbroke Grove, west London, on 24 Nov 2024.
Jazz Reid, 32, of Kensington, west London, was also charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition. The girl had surgery and is in a stable condition, while her father has been left with potentially life-changing injuries. The pair were with her two-year-old sibling and 32-year-old mother, who were both unhurt, at the time of the attack.
Prosecutor Michael Goodwin KC
HOMELESS MAN MURDER TRIAL
Trial under way at Old Bailey on 9 Sep 2025
Anthony Marks, 51, was assaulted in a bin shed in the early hours of 10 August 2024 on Cromer Street, near King’s Cross St Pancras station. Two weeks after being released from hospital, he was readmitted following a seizure and died on 25 September.
Mia Campos-Jorge, 18, from Haringey; Harry Gittins, 35, from Camden; Jaidee Bingham and Eymaiyah Bradshaw-McKoy (who were both 17 at the time) deny murder.
ASYLUM SEEKER HOTEL MURDER TRIAL
Trial at Wolverhampton CC on 13 Oct 2025.
Deng Chol Majek, aged 19, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Rhiannon Whyte, who worked in the Premier Inn, in Walsall, which was being used to house asylum seekers. Prosecutors allege Majek, understood to be an asylum seeker originally from South Sudan, used a screwdriver to attack Ms Whyte. The 27-year-old died in hospital three days after being found injured at Bescot Stadium station in Walsall, in October 2024.
HULL FUNERAL FRAUD TRIAL
Trial at Hull Crown Court pending. Next up on 15 October 2025 for PCMH.
Robert Bush, 47, has been charged with 64 offences relating to 254 victims after an investigation into remains found at funeral directors in Hull.
He has been charged with 30 counts of preventing a lawful burial and 30 counts of fraud by false representation relating to bodies found at the firm’s Hessle Road site in March 2024.
He has also been charged with one count of fraudulent trading in relation to funeral plans sold between May 2012 and March 2024, encompassing 172 victims; and one count of fraud in relation to human ashes, encompassing 50 victims dating back to 2017.
Bush is also accused of two counts of theft from charities between September 2022 and March 2024.
WELSH VALLEYS COUNTY LINES DRUGS MURDER TRIAL
Trial pending at Cardiff Crown Court on 20 October 2025
On March 9, 2025 Joanne Penney, 40, died after being shot at a block of flats in Green Park, Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales. Eleven people have been charged in connection with her death. Marcus Huntley, 20, from St Mellons, Cardiff, charged with murder and participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group. Kristina Ginova, 21, from Oadby, Leicestershire, charged with murder and participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group. Joshua Gordon, 27, from Oadby, charged with murder and participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, appeared from HMP Bristol. Jordan Mills-Smith, 33, from Pentwyn, Cardiff, charged with murder and participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group. Tony Porter, 68, from Braunstone Town, Leicestershire, charged with murder and participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group. Molly Cooper, 33, from Leicester, charged with participating in the activities of an organised crime group and having in her possession/purchasing or acquiring ammunition for a firearm without a certificate. Sai Raj Manne, 25, of no fixed abode appeared, via video link from HMP Hewell charged with participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group and having in his. possession/purchasing or acquiring a firearm. Callum Kelleher, 37, from Liverpool has been charged with participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, perverting the course of justice and assault. Melissa Quailey-Dashper, 39, from Leicester, appeared before Cardiff Crown Court on Friday morning charged with murder and participating in the activities of an organised crime group. Laura John, 22, of Rhiwbina, Cardiff and 50-year-old Donna James, of Llanishen, Cardiff, have been charged with assisting an offender.
DRILL RAPPER DIGDAT
Sentencing due at Old Bailey later in 2025. Faces second trial on 27 Oct 2025.
Nathan Tokosi, aka DigDat, 24, (DOB 10.11.99) was convicted of attempted murder following a shooting in 2023 which left a man fighting for his life in hospital. The incident in Notting Hill, west London, on 20 Nov 2023 triggered an armed police response. He was convicted attempted murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of three 9mm parabellum calibre bullets without a certificate. In 2019, the BBC lauded Tokosi for helping “shape” drill music with his “witty wordplay”. The drill rapper went on to perform at London’s Wireless Festival in 2021 and his music videos have racked up tens of millions of hits online.
RAPPER – DRUG IMPORTS
Sentencing at Kingston Crown Court on 31 October. O1MP1114523
Courtney Freckleton aka Nines.
CHINESE CRYPTOCURRENCY MONEY LAUNDERING CASE
Sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on 10/11 November
Zhimin Qian and Hok Seng Ling pleaded guilty to money laundering offences and will be sentenced. Cryptocurrency worth £5 billion was seized.
LIVERPOOL FC PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE PARADE INCIDENT TRIAL
Trial at Liverpool Crown Court on 24 Nov 2025
134 people were injured when a Ford Galaxy Titanium was driven into crowds who were leaving Liverpool waterfront after the Premier League title parade.
Paul Doyle, 53, of Croxteth, Liverpool, was charged in May with two counts of wounding with intent, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of dangerous driving.
A wounding charge and an attempted grievous bodily harm charge relate to children, aged 11 and 17.
Later an additional 24 charges, including two relating to alleged victims who were babies, were added.
GANG MURDER TRIAL (CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE)
Separate trials at Old Bailey – first one on 1 Dec 2025 (may move forward)
Michael Clarke, 34, from Luton, is charged with the murder of Tanesha Melbourne-Blake, 17, on 2 April 2018 (Easter Monday). She was shot in a drive-by shooting on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham, north London. His trial is due to take place on 1 Dec 2025.
Marcus La Croix, 36, from Hackney, is charged with the murder of 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne-Blake on April 2 2018 who was fatally shot from a vehicle on Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. His trial (retrial) is due to take place on 7 April 2026 but date may change. The prosecution’s star witness against La Croix is Brentford Hyatt, from Jamaica.
The shooting was allegedly part of a feud between N17 (Tottenham) and N22 (Wood Green) postcode gangs.
ONLINE SUICIDE DRUGS PURVEYOR ON TRIAL
Trial in Canada in Jan 2026
Kenneth Law, 59, is charged with 14 counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of counselling or aiding suicide in connection with 14 deaths across Ontario. Police say he ran websites selling a legal, but potentially lethal, chemical, and other suicide paraphernalia, to at-risk clients around the world. Law, who worked as a cook at a Toronto hotel, was arrested by Peel Regional Police at his Mississauga, Ont., home in May 2023. The criminal charges stem from deaths across Ontario, including that of a 16-year-old whose identity is covered by a publication because they were a minor. The families of 18-year-old Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez, 19-year-old Ashtyn Prosser, and Stephen Mitchell Jr., 21, have all identified their loved ones as alleged victims in the case.
ATTEMPTED MURDER OF DETECTIVE JOHN CALDWELL BY LOYALIST/NEW IRA GANG
Trial in N Ireland, probably not before Jan 2026.
Jonathan McGinty, 28, of St Julians Downs, Omagh; Brian Carron, 38, of Claremount Drive, Coalisland; Gavin Coyle, 45, of Killybrack Mews, Omagh; Matthew McLean, 33, Glenpark Road, Omagh; Robert McLean, 29, Deverney Park, Omagh; James Ivor McLean, 72, of Deverney Park, Omagh; and Alan McFarland, 47, of Deverney Park, Omagh, all deny attempted murder of Detective Inspector John Caldwell, who retired on medical grounds in Dec 2024. He received the King’s Police Medal.
Carron and Coyle stand further accused of belonging to a proscribed organisation, namely the IRA. McGinty, McFarland and Matthew McLean are also charged with preparation of terrorist acts.
Caoimhin Murphy, 25, from Altowen Park, Coalisland, and Liam Robinson, 45, of Ardstewart, Stewartstown, are both charged with preparation of terrorist attacks and perverting the course of justice.
GUNS FOUND IN VEHICLE HIDE, TRIAL
Trial pending at Maidstone or Canterbury CC in 2025
On 24 Feb 2025 Border Force officers seized 13 firearms and 300 rounds of ammunition from a SUV which arrived on ferry from France at Dover. Inside a custom-built hide in the vehicle’s footwell they discovered 13 firearms, including Skorpions, a submachine gun and pistols.
They also found 300 rounds of ammunition and five kilos of heroin..
Kasha Sanderson, 39, of Wick, Bristol, appeared at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on 25 Feb 2025 charged with importation of firearms, ammunition and Class A drugs.
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS CORRUPTION TRIAL
Retrial got under way in Dec 2024 in Providenciales, TCI.
Michael Misick, who was chief minister of Turks and Caicos Islands from 2003-2006 and premier from 2006-2009, faces trial for corruption. In 2009 Britain imposed direct rule over the colony and Misick resigned. Accused of corruption, he sought political asylum in Brazil. He was extradited back to the islands in 2014, receiving a hero’s welcome. Misick went on trial in 2016 along with eight politicians and lawyers. But the trial dragged on for years until finally collapsing when the elderly Jamaican judge presiding over it, Paul Harrison, died, aged 85, in 2021. But the SIPT appointed a new judge, Mabel Agyemang, from Ghana, and in 2022 she ordered a new trial.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3606425/I-trying-make-Turks-Caicos-Islands-sexy.html
NOVICHOK INQUIRY (DEATH OF DAWN STURGESS)
Public inquiry under way at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
Dawn Sturgess was pronounced dead at Salisbury District Hospital on 8 July 2018. The post mortem indicated the cause of her death was Novichok poisoning. The Russian government is believed to have targeted Sergei Skripal at his home in Salisbury. Skripal and his daughter survived.
On 18 November 2021 the Home Secretary announced the government’s decision to establish an inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 to investigate the death of Dawn Sturgess.
Baroness Hallett is the presiding judge overseeing the inquiry.
BRIXTON ACADEMY CRUSH INQUEST
Inquest pending. Criminal investigation still ongoing.
Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, and Gaby Hutchinson, 23, were killed when they were crushed at a gig by Nigerian Afrobeats singer Asake at the Brixton Academy in south London. The police said thousands of ticketless fans tried to storm the entrance to the building. Hutchinson worked in security while Ikumelo is believed to have been an Asake fan.
CORONATION DAY SHOOTING INCIDENT
Inquest in Kent pending (was delayed from Oct 2023)
Mother-of-two Hayley Burke, 36, was fatally injured in a shooting during the coronation weekend and later died in hospital. Jacob Cloke, 29, is believed to have held her at gunpoint and pulled the trigger during a stand-off with police. Cloke later died of self-inflicted injuries. It later emerged that Cloke was facing several charges of violence against Burke and was on bail at the time of the attack. Court records show he had been charged with two counts of assault and one of causing actual bodily harm in three separate incidents between February 2022 and April 2023. At a hearing on 26 April – less than two weeks before the fatal shooting – he pleaded not guilty to the charges at Medway magistrates court and was subsequently released on conditional bail with an order not to contact Burke or to enter Dartford, where she lived. Prosecutors also requested that he be fitted with a GPS-enabled electronic tag to allow police to monitor his whereabouts and keep him from entering the exclusion area. IOPC investigating.
FOUR VIETNAMESE DIED IN FIRE AT CANNABIS FARM IN DISUSED MILL INQUEST
Inquest pending. GMP still investigating.
The bodies of Cuong Van Chu, Uoc Van Nguyen, Duong Van Nguyen and Nam Thanh Lee were found in July 2022 when work began on demolishing Bismark House Mill in Bower Street, Oldham, which had burnt down in May 2022. Their bodies were repatriated to Vietnam in Aug 2023. Nam arrived in the UK in January 2022 – he last contacted his family on Wednesday 4 May 2022, at which time he said he was residing in “a derelict house” in “Dam”, believed to be Oldham, while looking for work. Four people were arrested by police investigating the fire and a cannabis factory at the site.
LYRA McKEE (NEW IRA) MURDER TRIAL
Trial under way in Northern Ireland
In April 2019 blogger and journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead by the New IRA as she sheltered behind a police vehicle during rioting on the Creggan estate in Derry.
Paul McIntyre was charged with McKee’s murder and related offences in February 2020 and is currently out on bail, awaiting trial.
In 2021 Peter Cavanagh, 33, and Jordan Devine, 21, were charged with her murder.
SIX ACCUSED WITH MEMBERSHIP OF PKK: TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 5 Jan 2026. PCMH on 13 June 2025.
Six people have been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation – namely the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or ‘PKK’ – contrary to section 11 of the Terrorism Act, 2000.
In Feb 2025 the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan issued a statement from prison, calling on its members to lay down their weapons.
The defendants are:
Turkan Ozcan, 59 (06.02.1965), of Edmonton, N9,
Mazlum Sayak, 27 (05.08.1997), of South Woodford, E18,
Berfin Kerban, 31 (07.10.1993), of Haggerston, E8,
Ali Boyraz, 62 (30.05.1962), of Tottenham, N17,
Ercan Akbal, 56 (13.07.1968) of Leyton, E10,
Agit Karatas, 23 (05.11.2001) of Hackney, E8.
COLD CASE MURDER – 1984 TUBE STATION – TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 5 (or 12) Jan 2026
Anthony Littler, 45, was found with head injuries in an alleyway known as The Causeway, near East Finchley Tube station on May 1, 1984. Investigators believe the Customs and Excise officer, who was single and lived a short distance from the station, was murdered in a random attack.
In March 2025 two brothers – Michael Stewart, 55, of Station Road, New Barnet, north London, and Anthony Stewart, 59, of Old Farm Road, Finchley, north London – who had been arrested a year earlier, were charged with Mr Littler’s murder.
Another three men who were previously arrested on suspicion of murder remain under investigation.
CHURCH ROAD FUNERAL MURDER TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 12 Jan 2026. PCMH on 2 April 2025.
Michelle Sadio, 44, died after shots were fired in Harlesden at about 9pm on 14 December 2024. She was standing with mourners outside the River of Life pentecostal church after a funeral wake. Two men were also injured in the incident. Kenneth Amoah, 39, sustained a gunshot wound to the back and Kadeem Francis, 30, was shot in the foot. The shooting is believed to be gang-related.
Perry Allen-Thomas, 26, Amir Salem, 18, Shaquille Sutherland, 24, all from Wembley, and Tahjin Sommersal, 18, from Feltham, have each been charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder.
NORTHOLT-RAYNERS LANE GANG MURDER REVENGE TRIAL
Retrial at Loughborough Crown Court on 13 Jan 2026.
In October 2020 Tamba Momodou, 20, a drug dealer originally from Rayners Lane in north west London, was shot dead in the car park of the Bridges Business Park in Horsehay, Telford, Shropshire. Momodou, whose street name was Teerose, had been acquitted of murdering Abdullahi Tarabi, aka TeeWizz, in Northolt in 2017. His murder is thought to have been in revenge for that murder. In May 2024 Deria Hassan, 32, and Mahamud Tarabi, 32, were charged with murder. Tarabi is the brother of Teewizz. The first trial collapsed on 10 March 2025.
NORTH SEA SHIP COLLISION MANSLAUGHTER TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 12 Jan 2026
Vladimir Motin, 59, captain of the MV Solong, a Portuguese-flagged container ship which collided with a US oil tanker in the North Sea (near the mouth of the Humber) is accused of gross negligence manslaughter.
The Solong collided with the Stena Immaculate on March 10, 2025.
All 23 people on the tanker were rescued along with 13 crew from the Solong, but Mark Angelo ernia – a 38-year-old Filipino – died.
MAN WHO SOLD SUICIDE TRIAL
Trial in Ontario, Canada in Jan 2026. Eight week trial.
Kenneth Law is set to stand trial on 14 counts each of first-degree murder and aiding suicide.
Law, 57, was arrested in Ontario and later charged with second degree murder and aiding suicide, after allegedly selling lethal substances to people across the world.
In the UK alone 88 suicides are linked to Law. An inquest in March 2025 heard Imogen Nunn, 25, took a chemical and died in Brighton, East Sussex, on January 1, 2023. The deaf young woman used her TikTok platform to raise awareness of hearing and mental health issues to her 780,000 followers.
NOAH DONOHOE INQUEST
Inquest in early 2026. 10 weeks.
Schoolboy Noah Donohoe went missing in Belfast in June 2020. The 14-year-old was found dead in a storm drain six days after he cycled off to meet friends.
His mother Fiona Donohoe is hoping to secure answers to some of the questions surrounding the death of her son through the inquest process. Her supporters are known as Noah’s Army and some of their conspiracy theories are quite outlandish.
Noah was from the Catholic community and some of the conspiracy theories surround loyalist gangs.
The inquest was originally scheduled to take place in 2022 but was delayed after a ruling from coroner Joe McCrisken that it should proceed with a jury, following an application from Noah’s mother.
The original coroner, Joe McCrisken, has since recused himself from the case. The inquest will now be heard by Mr Justice Rooney.
COLD CASE MURDER TRIAL
Trial provisionally set for 2 Feb 2026 at Old Bailey.
Steve Wright, 66, is charged with the kidnap and murder of 17-year-old Victoria Hall, who disappeared on her way home from a nightclub in Suffolk in 1999.
Judge Martyn Levett
ETHICAL FORESTRY (COSTA RICA) FRAUD TRIAL
Trial pending at Southwark Crown Court on 2 Feb 2026. Plea management hearing 8 Jan 2024.
SFO charged Stephen Greenaway, Paul Laver and Matthew Pickard with two counts each of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and one count each of fraudulent trading. They were directors of Ethical Forestry Limited, a Bournemouth company which collapsed in 2015, owing millions to British investors. Between 2007 and 2008 Ethical Forestry Limited operated hardwood tree plantations in Costa Rica. Investors were asked to put in a minimum of £12,000 and were told the fast-growing saplings would be grown, logged and sold, giving them a substantial return on their investment.
SILENT DISCO MURDER TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 9 Feb 2026
Leroy Mitchell, 35, was killed in a car park in Birdhurst Road, Croydon, south London, just before 5am on October 2 2021. He had been at a headphones party at a house in Birdhurst Road before his death.
Cimarron Dume-Gooden, 32, and Alpacino Veii, 29, both deny murdering Mr Mitchell and perverting the course of justice. It is alleged they attempted to pervert the course of justice by setting a BMW alight and destroying the clothing inside it and also by hiding at addresses in Walsall and Somerset.
WOLVERHAMPTON GANG MURDER TRIAL
Trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 16 Feb 2026.
In March 2025, Neo Graham, 24, was shot dead in Eastfield Grove, Wolverhampton. Fabio Bandarrinha, 20, and Deric Da Silva, 19; have been charged with murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate, possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, and acquiring, using or possessing criminal property. Aaron Osei, 22 and Elie Mey, 24, are charged with conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate, possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, possession of a controlled Class B drug, and acquiring, using or possessing criminal property. Koketso Ximba, 22, is charged with murder.
HONG KONG STUDENTS INTIMIDATION TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 2 March 2026. In for mention on 19 June
Chi (Peter) Leung Wai, 38, from Staines, Surrey; and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, from Hackney, east London, were charged with offences under the National Security Act.
A third defendant, former Royal Marine, Matthew Trickett, 37, an immigration enforcement officer and private investigator from Maidenhead, Berkshire, was found dead in a park in Maidenhead in May 2024. At their first appearance the prosecution had asked for Mr Trickett to be remanded in custody for his own welfare ahead of his next hearing at the Old Bailey. But he was granted bail and on May 19, Mr Trickett was found dead in Grenfell Park, Maidenhead.
HISTORICAL CRIME (CHILD MANSLAUGHTER) TRIAL
Trial at Isleworth Crown Court on 20 April 2026.
Janice Nix, 66, of Rodenhurst Road, south London, is accused of killing five-year-old Andrea Bernard by scalding her in a hot bath in 1978. Nix has also been charged with child cruelty in relation to offences towards Andrea’s brother Desmond Bernard, between 1October 1975 and 6 June 1978, when Mr Bernard was eight. He is expected to be the prosecution’s star witness. The Metropolitan Police said the force launched an investigation into Andrea’s death in September 2022.
Jocelyn Ledward KC, prosecuting.
Reporting restrictions in place. See background file.
CARDIFF MURDER TRIAL
Trial at Merthyr Crown Court on 20 April 2026. 4 weeks.
Paria Veisi, 37, vanished after leaving her workplace in Canton, Cardiff. Her body was later found in the garden of a house in Penylan, Cardiff. Her estranged husband Alireza Askari, 41, has been charged with murder and preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body, and assaulting a person occasioning them actual bodily harm. Maryam Delavary, 48, of Australia Road, White City Estate, west London, has been charged with preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body and conspiring to pervert the course of justice. (The pair originally faced trial before Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, the Recorder of Cardiff.)
KEIR STARMER HOUSE AND CAR ARSON TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 27 April 2026. Plea hearing on 17 Oct 2025.
Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 21, Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, and Ukrainian national Petro Pochynok, 34, are accused of arson offences linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Two of the fires took place in Kentish Town, north London – one in the early hours of May 12, 2025 at the home where Sir Keir lived before he became Prime Minister and moved into Downing Street.
A car was set alight in the same street four days earlier on May 8, 2025. The other fire was on May 11 at the front door of a house converted into flats in Islington.
Lavrynovych has been charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life on May 8, May 11 and May 12.
Sarah Przybylska prosecuting
James Scobie KC defending Lavrynovych.
HACKNEY TURKS SHOOTING TRIAL
Trial pending at Old Bailey on 11 May 2026. PCMH on 17 Oct 2025.
Beytullah Gunduz, 39 (24.06.1986) of Hackney was charged with attempted murder after a 37-year-old man was shot and seriously outside the Umit 2000 Turkish restaurant in Crossway, Dalston. Shooting took place at 10.50pm.
https://www.tiktok.com/@mr_hamlets/video/7518345759255809302
WOUNDING OF IRANIAN JOURNALIST TRIAL
Trial pending at Old Bailey on 11 May 2026.
Two Romanian men are accused of attacking Iranian journalist in Wimbledon. Nandito Badea, 20, and George Stana, 24, from Romania, are accused of stabbing Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati in Wimbledon on 29 March 2024. They are charged with wounding him with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and wounding.
Iran International channel has been branded a terrorist organisation by the regime in Tehran after it covered massive protests in several Iranian cities in September 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was detained by the morality police for not wearing a veil.
MUSIC VIDEO MURDER TRIAL
Trial pending at Old Bailey on 18 May 2026. 4 weeks. Case number – 42MR1624720.
In June 2020 Stephen Morrison, 30, was stabbed in Epping Road, Epping, Essex, at about 8pm during the filming of a music video. He died later in hospital. In July 2025 Yonas Girma, 28, from Hounslow Road, Hanworth, was charged with murder and awaits trial in 2026. Also charged is Ellis Heather aka rapper Rack5. The victim was stabbed and collapsed after staggering into a petrol station following a clash between two groups near the Wakes Arms roundabout in Epping, Essex. The victim’s brother, Joey Morrison, is an ex boyfriend of TOWIE star Lauren Goodger. Another brother is a rapper. Fourteen people were arrested.
News of the attack led news bulletins on Nov 25, 2024.
ENFIELD GANG-RELATED MURDER TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 18 May 2026. 8 weeks
The 17-year-old youth is accused of the murder of 18-year-old Keanu Harker in Enfield, north London, on June 26, 2025. The victim was shot dead as he rode a bicycle on Great Cambridge Road shortly after he left his home at 8.30pm.
A second youth, also 17, has been charged with murder. A third defendant, Eliezer Mbike, 25, from Tottenham, north London, was charged with perverting the course of justice.
The first teenager fled to Paris and survived on Uber Eats deliveries after allegedly carrying out a gang-related fatal shooting on an electric bike. Prosecutor Louise Oakley.
NORWEGIAN TEENAGER ACCUSED OF CONSPIRACY TO MURDER IN UK
Trial at Old Bailey on 2 June 2026. PCMH on 18 July 2025.
A Norwegian teenager was allegedly being caught with two guns in a hotel room in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 18, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and having a firearm and ammunition on March 19, 2025, two days after arriving in the UK from Norway. He was allegedly in possession of a black Luger 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a revolver. Natland was charged with possession of two prohibited firearms and having ammunition without a firearm certificate.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb was told he would be indicted on a charge of conspiracy to murder but victim not identified. Case is under Counter Terrorism Policing.
ALLEGED IRANIAN AGENTS ON TRIAL
Trial at Old Bailey on 5 October 2026, before Judge Cheema-Grubb.
Three Iranian nationals have been charged under the National Security Act with spying offences on behalf of Iran’s foreign intelligence service. Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, are all charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist the Iranian foreign intelligence service between August 14 2024 and February 16 2025. Sepahvand is also charged with engaging in surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research, intending to commit acts, namely serious violence against a person in the UK. Manesh and Noori are also charged with engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the UK, would be committed by others.
ANTIGUA SOLAR FARM BRIBERY TRIAL
Trial pending at Southwark Crown Court in Jan 2027 (!)
Peter Virdee, 50, also known as Hardip Singh, has been charged with bribing a foreign public official. It is alleged that between January 2015 and July 2017 he bribed Asot Michael, a Member of Parliament and Government Minister of Tourism, Economic Development Investment and Energy for Antigua and Barbuda, to benefit PV Energy Ltd, the company he is a director of. PV Energy ltd was simultaneously charged with failing to prevent bribery in relation to the same offences.
ENCROCHAT DRUGS TRIAL (OPERATION DIREEN)
Trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court in June 2027
Nine people awaiting trial for multiple offences, all of which stem from evidence from Encrochat.
The defendants include Jermaine Ford-Simpson, 37 (04.08.83), of Elizabeth II Avenue, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, who has been charged with four counts of conspiracy to supply Class A and two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs. Micah Ford-Simpson, 30, (18.06.90) of Southwold Road, Hackney, has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to supply class B drugs. Shaun Ford-Simpson, 35 (17.05.85) of Kit Hill Crescent, Plymouth, has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A and two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs. Jamie Ford, 34 (01.06.86) of Viburnum Road, Almondsbury, Bristol, has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A and two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs.
OPERATION ARBACIA (NEW IRA) TERRORISM TRIAL
Trial pending in Northern Ireland.
Several people, accused of being members of the New IRA, are awaiting trial following an MI5 investigation, codenamed Operation Arbacia.
They include: Issam Basalat, 62, a GP, from Edinburgh, who is accused of preparation of terrorist acts in relation to his attendance at an alleged meeting of the New IRA at an address at Buninver Road in Omagh, Co Tyrone, on 19 July 2020.
David Jordan, 49, of Cappagh Road, Dungannon, Co Tyrone, who is accused of belonging to a proscribed organisation between February 8 and July 20, directing a terrorist organisation, and preparation of terrorist acts through attending the same meeting at Buninver Road in Omagh, as well as attending a meeting in Sixmilecross on February 9.
Also charged: Sharon Jordan, 45, of Cappagh Road in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, Kevin Barry Murphy, 49, of Altowen Park, Coalisland, Co Tyrone, Damien McLaughlin, 44, of Kilmascally Road, Dungannon, Amanda McCabe, 49, of Ailsbury Gardens in Lurgan, Co Armagh, Gary Hayden, 48, of Tyrconnell Street in Londonderry, and Joseph Barr, 32, of Cecilia’s Walk in Londonderry, Shea Reynolds, 26, of Belvedere Manor in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Patrick McDaid, 50, of Magowan Park in Derry.
In August 2022 two more men were charged: Gary Gerard MacNally, 62, a decorator from Barnfield Grange in Lisburn, Co Antrim, and unemployed Joseph Donnelly, 51, from Westrock Drive in Belfast, are accused of belonging or professing to belonging to a proscribed organisation, directing a terrorist organisation and preparating terrorist acts.
A detective chief inspector said part of the evidence involves audio dating from August 2020.
The alleged offences occurred between December 31 2019 and August 24 this year and included directing the activities of the Irish Republican Army and attending meetings in the vicinity of Whiterock Leisure Centre in Belfast with the intention of committing acts of terrorism, the court was told.
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