Emmanuel Popoola, known as Constancy, shot Keanu Harker in the head and chest with a pistol following a chase through Enfield in north London
Two drill rappers have been jailed for life after murdering a teenager in a ride-by shooting in London following a dispute on social media.
Keanu Harker, 18, was shot in the head and chest with a pistol by Emmanuel Popoola, also 18, following a chase through Enfield, north London.
While the victim had been riding on a bicycle, Popoola was the pillion passenger on a high-powered electric dirt bike ridden by Teyvon Etefia, an 18-year-old known as Take Risks.
The killing took place during a background of violent incidents arising from rivalry between two gangs in Enfield, namely the 3×3 gang and the Get Money Gang (GMG).
The fatal incident was motivated by a row on Snapchat which saw voice messages imply that Popoola, known as Constancy, could not afford to buy data for his mobile phone.
Following the murder, gang members bragged about this in drill rap videos. Today, Popoola and Etefia, both from Enfield, were jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years after being found guilty at the Old Bailey in London of murder and possessing a self-loading pistol with intent to endanger life.
Judge Anthony Leonard KC told them: “Keanu Harker was affiliated with the 3×3 gang, a rival gang to yours – that is not a reason he should lose his life at such a young age. I take into account what has been said about the influence of senior older members of the gang to younger more impressionable members of the gang.
“But in this case the decision to murder Keanu Harker was personal to you. It was your planned intention to shoot him because of what he said about you, Popoola, on a public forum.”
Fellow drill rapper Eliezer Mbaki, 25, who was known as Spider, from Tottenham, was jailed for four years and nine months for perverting the course of justice.
The court previously heard from prosecutor Louise Oakley KC, who told jurors the defendants had chased Mr Harker on their e-bike on the evening of June 26 last year and Popoola had shot him when they rode alongside. Mr Harker fell off his bicycle on to the road and, mortally injured, crawled into a front garden as the defendants fled the scene.
Alerted by the gunshots, witnesses found Mr Harker’s bicycle lying in the road covered in blood and followed a trail to the victim, who died at the scene. Following the shooting, the defendants dumped the e-bike, discarded their clothes and Etefia got rid of a machete in a neighbouring garden.
The pair were then collected in a car driven by Mbaki and a youth recovered the e-bike. The two killers then attempted to flee to France by train, jurors were told.
Popoola boarded a one-way Eurostar service from London St Pancras to Paris with the help of his girlfriend Anais King, 19. Etefia booked his own ticket but was tracked by police, who boarded the train and arrested him two minutes before it was due to depart.
Popoola made it to the French capital and officers in London focused their attention on his girlfriend, who planned to join him and bring him nail clippers, a comb and deodorant. Detectives received information of her Eurostar booking and devised a plan for her to lead them to Popoola with help from French police, who monitored King on her arrival at Gare du Nord.
From there, she took a taxi to Popoola’s apartment where Paris gendarmes arrested him. Popoola was extradited from France to London and King was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
In his evidence, Popoola denied being involved in the shooting, saying he was implicated by Etefia, who told jurors he had been on the back of his e-bike that day but he did not know he had a gun.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Harker’s mother, Kristen Harker, said: “Keanu did not deserve to die. He was not perfect but he was my son and he had his whole life ahead of him.” As a vulnerable teenager, he was influenced and groomed by older individuals who “should have known better”, she said.
The mother continued: “Instead of being protected, he was exploited. It takes a truly evil person to take someone else’s child away forever. My son was killed over postcodes that belong to no-one.”
She added that hearing his death had been turned into rap lyrics was “cruel, callous and deeply disrespectful”. The victim’s father, Chris Hope, said: “Keanu mattered. He was loved and he should still be here.”
Addressing the defendants in court, aunt Summer Adams said: “They took a life which they had no right to do. For what? To score points for a postcode for people who don’t care about them.” Jurors also convicted King, from Enfield, and a 17-year-old youth of perverting the course of justice.
They will be sentenced on a later date.
