Dafydd Enoch QC and Nick de la Poer secure convictions in gangland murder trial

Following at trial which began on 3rd June 2019, 2 men were convicted of murdering Christopher Lewis by shooting him in the head. On 30th July 2019 both men were sentenced to life imprisonment with lengthy minimum terms.

The killing sits in a context of internecine fighting between members of the Flock gang, of which Mr Lewis was a member, and criminal rivals.

In January 2017 a man called Raheem Wilks was fatally shot in a barbershop in Chapeltown. Mr Wilks was also member of the Flock gang. In November 2017 Dafydd and Nick prosecuted the men responsible securing the convictions of, among others, Jaydn Manners also known as JMAN.

On 29th July 2018 a party took place in Oracle Bar in Leeds City Centre at which the letters JMAN was prominently displayed. The man who was to kill Christopher Lewis just days later, Steven Grey, was present at that party, together with a number of other associates who had in common convictions for dealing drugs. Violence erupted on the streets of Leeds culminating in a foot chase in which Steven Grey and his companions pursued members of the Flock gang. Retaliating about an hour later, three masked members of the Flock drove into Leeds city centre and attacked Mr Grey and his associates with a machete, an axe and a spade. One of the members of Mr Grey’s group, Denzil Wharton Browne, was struck in the back with the axe in the course of the retaliation.

In an attempt to take revenge for the axe attack, on 31st July 2018, a drive-by shooting took place at Christopher Lewis’s house. No-one was injured as a result. However, the following day Steven Grey and a man called Jonathan Gledhill, travelled to Chapeltown, stalked Christopher Lewis as he went about his business, before approaching him whilst he stood on his driveway and shooting him twice with the same gun as had been used the night before. Tragically, one of the bullets hit Christopher Lewis in the head and killed him.

The police and prosecution were hampered by the fact that despite there being a park full of people nearby with the shooting taking place in broad daylight, only one eye witness was prepared to give evidence. Consequently, the case was painstakingly built and presented against the defendants on the basis principally of CCTV and mobile telephone data. In addition, between them Dafydd and Nick called a large body of expert of evidence in relation to the identification of vehicles, gang culture, cell-site analysis, ballistics and the operation of spoof mobile telephones.

Not only did Dafydd and Nick secure convictions in relation to Steven Grey and Jonathan Gledhill, but three other men were also convicted of assisting an offender, arising from their role in arranging the transportation of those who had committed the murder away from the scene.

Steven Grey and Jonathan Gledhill were sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 32 and 31 years respectively. Those convicted of assisting an offender received sentences of 4 years.

Media reports of the case can be found at:

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