Mohammed Usman Mirza: Five guilty of murder of Redbridge teenager

Five people have been found guilty of murdering Mohammed Usman Mirza in an apparent revenge attack for the attempted murder of another man two months earlier.

The 19-year-old, known as Usman, was stabbed during a fight at Owen Waters House, Fullwell Avenue, in Clayhall, Ilford, in Redbridge, on November 19, 2019.

Police were called at around 10.20pm to reports of a group with knives chasing and attacking a man calling for help, before they fled the scene prior to officers arriving.

Usman was found unresponsive with multiple stabbing injuries, and died at the scene.

A post-mortem examination found his cause of death was a stab wound to the neck.

Tyler Moore, 21, of Lawson Close, Ilford, was convicted of the teenager’s murder yesterday (Thursday, July 7) following a seven-week-long trial at the Old Bailey court in central London.

London Beqa, 20, Shariq Khan, 21, and Hassan Riaz, 22, were also all convicted of Usman’s murder following a previous ten-week trial that concluded there in October 2021.

During the second trial, legal restrictions on naming 18-year-old Omari Thompson, who was also found guilty of the murder during the trial held in 2021, were lifted.

Beqa, of Windsor Road, Ilford, has been sentenced to life with a minimum of 14 years.

Khan, of Percy Road, Ilford, was also given life with a minimum of 25 years.

While Riaz was sentenced to life with a minimum of 24 years.

And Thompson, of Northbrook Road, Ilford, was also handed a life sentence with a 15 year minimum.

Two other men - Moeez Bangash, 26, of Gaysham Avenue, Ilford, and Jonathan Makengo, 25, of Francis Way, Ilford - were found guilty of manslaughter during the trial in 2022.

Moore, Bangash and Makengo will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, September 16.

The trials were split due to Covid-19 restrictions in place last year.

An eighth man was found not guilty during the 2021 trial.

Imran Mirza, Usman’s father, said: “We will never get over the murder of our son Usman and we miss him every single day.

“This has been a very long process with two trials but we are pleased that justice has now been served.”

The killers used five stolen vehicles to carry out the attack, and planned the locations they used in advance.

Khan drove Usman to a block of garages in Hurstleigh Gardens in a red Peugeot - before chasing and attacking him along with Moore, Thompson and Riaz.

Witnesses told how they saw numerous men chasing Usman along the alley to the garages, and while trying to help Usman, one heard him use a nickname of one of his attackers.

Police were also alerted to reports of a car being set alight in the Hurstleigh Garden garages, with one witness hearing a man say to another: “Don’t forget the petrol can.”

A red Peugeot - stolen during a burglary in Essex the day before the murder - was seen bursting into flames with smoke rising from the garages.

Another car, a white 4x4 Chevrolet Captiva, stolen during a knife point robbery in Ilford in October 2019, was also burned out immediately after the murder.

Forensic analysis linked the vehicles to Khan, Beqa, Makengo and Thompson via DNA and clothing, while a third getaway vehicle - a Ford Eco Sport - was also discovered to have been used, after being stolen during a burglary in Chigwell two days before Usman’s murder.

Police linked Khan to the Eco Sport via his phone, and stopped a Vauxhall Mokka, stolen from the same address, the day after the murder, arresting Riaz and Moore and discovering a petrol can with Khan’s DNA in the boot.

While police said Beqa used a fifth car, a legally owned black VW Polo, to purchase three petrol cans, and later help Khan and Riaz leave the murder scene.

Makengo used yet another stolen car - a black Ford Kuga - to drive himself, Bangash, Moore and Thompson, to a meet-up in Swiss Cottage organised by Bangash after the murder.

DCI Kelly Allen, said: “I would firstly like to pay tribute to Usman’s family who have had to endure two trials to see all of these responsible for his murder brought to justice.

“I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it has been to go through this process twice and hear these harrowing details repeated a second time.

“I hope that today’s verdict can begin to offer some comfort that the men who took Usman’s life will rightly pay for their actions.”

She added: “This was a carefully planned attack with Usman as the sole target.

“Nothing had been left to chance.

“They were out for revenge for the attack they believed Usman had orchestrated against their friend.

“In the lead up to the attack Khan and Bangash maintained an air of friendship with Usman, despite the fact that their loyalties had changed.”

The DCI continued: “There is no doubt that this was a premeditated attack.

"They carried out a number of recces to pinpoint where they would carry out their plan, from the attack itself to burn sites and pick up locations.

“They then all headed to Swiss Cottage for what we can assume was a de-brief after Usman’s murder.

“Thanks to the bravery of witnesses to come forward, detectives were able to track them down and piece together the events surrounding Usman’s death and bring his killers to justice.”