Taylor Cox murder, Islington: Three convicted of fatal shooting of Barnet teenager

Three men have been convicted of murder after a fatal shooting in Islington.

Taylor Cox died after the shooting in Hornsey Rise Gardens on June 8, 2021, at about 4.24pm.

The 19-year-old, from Barnet, suffered gunshot injuries and was taken to hospital where he later died of a gunshot to the head.

On Friday, three men were found guilty of his murder:

• Jaden McGibbon, 22, of Warltersville Road
• Robel Michael, 22, of no fixed address
• Sichem Mangituka-Mpelo, 22, of Holloway

They will return to the Old Bailey to be sentenced on December 15.

A fourth person, Dunia Oukili, 22, of Harrington Square, Camden, was convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Met Police murder investigation

After the shooting of Taylor, the suspects fled the scene. Police said McGibbon’s girlfriend, Oukili, booked a hotel room and bought a mobile phone in an attempt to help him evade arrest.

Officers would later find spent ammunition cartridge cases in Oukili’s handbag that were of the same calibre to those used in the shooting.

Detectives trawled through hours of CCTV footage and found images of McGibbon riding a bicycle shortly before the shots were fired. Just before the murder he covered his face with a balaclava.

McGibbon was arrested on June 12, 2021 and was charged with murder the following day. Michael was arrested on August 4 and Mangituka-Mpelo was arrested on August 23 that year.

Taylor Cox

Taylor’s father, David Campbell, said: “The whole family are grateful that we come to this conclusion and are thankful for the efforts of the police in all the work they did to convict the defendants. Despite the guilty verdict, it still doesn’t help the pain that knowing we won’t see Taylor again causes us.”

‘Violence on the streets’

Detective Chief Inspector Linda Bradley, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “This was a targeted attack on a young man who should have had the rest of his life ahead of him.

“It saddens me to see so many young lives cut short by violence on the streets of our capital and I hope these convictions, and the loss of freedom the defendants are about to face, serve as a warning to any others who think that conflict of any kind can be resolved with weapons and violence.

“My thoughts are with Taylor’s family. While nothing can bring him back, I hope that today’s guilty verdicts bring them a degree of satisfaction.”

Crimestoppers

Anyone with information about violent crime can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Any young people who have information about violence or knife crime, can visit Crimsetoppers’ Fearless website.

The charity does not trace the IP address of anyone who uses it.