Thetford drug dealers jailed for over 20 years after rival David Lawal stabbed to death in town
Four County Lines drug dealers have been jailed for more than 20 years after a man was stabbed to death in Thetford two years ago.
David Lawal, 25, who was selling crack and heroin in the town in rival County Lines drug dealing, was left to die at the side of a road after he was stabbed in the neck.
His father Albert Lawal said his son's death had 'left a huge vacuum within the family and he can never be replaced'.
Amrik Singh, 19, of Abbey Lane, Greater London, appeared before Norwich Crown Court today and was jailed for three years and nine months for the manslaughter of Mr Lawal in Brandon Road, Thetford, on October 3, 2019 and two years and three months for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
He had previously pleaded guilty to both counts.
Three others were also sentenced at the court today in connection with the same investigation.
Elie Saba, 35, of Goddards Way, Greater London, received eight years for one count of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Iddi Zito, 19, of Essex Street, Greater London, was given three years and three months for one count of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Lisa Desousa, 23, of Nightingale Road, Greater London, was sentenced to three years and three months for one count of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Another defendant Claudia Annius, 21, of Bunyan Road, Bedford, admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and is due to be sentenced next year.
On the day of the incident officers, who were on patrol in Brandon Road, discovered members of the public giving first aid to a man with stab wounds on the side of the road.
He was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 8pm.
He was later named as 25-year-old David Lawal from Greater London.
A Home Office post-mortem examination concluded Mr Lawal died from a single 3.5cm wide and 8cm deep stab wound at the bottom of his neck.
Detectives from the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team launched a murder investigation and it quickly emerged that Mr Lawal’s death had all the hallmarks of being connected to County Lines activity.
The court heard that the defendant and the victim were involved in rival County Lines activity in Thetford, and how Mr Lawal and members of the Frankie line came into contact with each other at Blaydon Bridge on October 3, 2019 and Mr Lawal suffered a fatal stab wound.
After reviewing more than 2,500 exhibits, 515 statements, 449 officer reports, 500 hours of CCTV footage and data downloaded from 90 communication devices, detectives discovered that at the time of the incident, the five defendants were part of the Frankie group that sold crack and heroin in Thetford.
It became apparent that Mr Lawal was also selling crack and heroin on the same streets of Thetford, and several wraps of drugs were found in Mr Lawal’s mouth following his death.
Analysis of Saba’s mobile phone showed that on June 16, 2019 he told one of his friends that he had just got back from 't town' (Thetford), he had made '4 bags in the 3 days', which police estimated would have generated £4,000, and had built up a customer base of 100 numbers.
Later that same month, further messages from Saba confirmed the number of workers on his current line.
“I got 8 of them,” he said, and explained he would need more because he was 'going to build a new one'.
The drugs were brought from London and stored locally in Thetford.
Customers ordered their drugs by telephoning the Frankie line mobile number, which the court was told was operated by Annius - the phone number was later traced to a mobile cell site near her home.
Her job was to relay the orders to the dealers in Thetford - Singh, Zito, Saba and Desousa – using a separate phone number, before giving the customers a time and place to meet the dealers.
The dealers would then sell either crack or heroin in £5 deals or 'shots'.
David Lawal’s drugs operation was identified as the ‘Baller’ line and instead of using a network of dealers, he drove his drugs from London to Thetford and accepted and fulfilled the orders himself in £15 deals.
Witnesses told officers he was liked by his customers and a 'popular' dealer.
Customers of Frankie and Baller, who were identified by detectives from analysing the mobile telephone numbers used to contact the dealers, told police how the system worked and described buying from the Frankie line as well as Mr Lawal.
Mobile phone analysis showed that Zito and Singh left London late on September 30 and arrived in Thetford in the early hours of October 1. On October 1 and 2, the Frankie line sent more than 100 text messages to its customer base.
Saba and Desousa’s mobile phones confirmed their arrival in Thetford at about 2.30am on October 3.
Later that same morning, the Frankie line sent another 100 plus texts to its customer base.
The court heard how Saba, Zito, Singh and Desousa used a property in Durham Way, Thetford, as a base while they were in the town.
Wet clothes found in a carrier bag and matching those seen on Zito in CCTV footage from October 3 were later found at the property.
Zito’s fingerprints were also discovered on a vodka bottle and a snack wrapper.
Forensic analysis of a drink bottle, a bag of sweets and a door at the property in Durham Way identified Desousa as being at the same property, and Singh’s fingerprints were also on the carrier bag that contained Zito’s clothing.
A grey jacket believed to belong to Zito was found on the river path close to where the stabbing took place and although it provided a mixed DNA result, analysis showed it was at least one billion times more likely that the DNA profile belonged to Zito and one other person than it did not.
On October 3 CCTV footage captured the arrival of Mr Lawal and another man – later identified as 26-year-old Rimmel Arthur, who was believed to be a friend or accomplice - in a side street off Brandon Road, near Blaydon Bridge, just before 7pm.
Mr Lawal parked his car in St John’s Way and the two men walked to Blaydon Bridge.
Detectives discovered two Samurai-style swords in Mr Lawal’s car.
These were seized by police and forensic tests later confirmed DNA from Mr Lawal and Rimmel Arthur on the handles of the swords.
Arthur, now 28, and of Baronet Road, Greater London, admitted possession of a bladed article at Norwich Crown Court in November 2019 and on January 21, 2020 was jailed for 18 months.
A witness told officers how he had purchased Crack from the Frankie group at Blaydon Bridge earlier that evening and, after smoking drugs with another user, had walked along Brandon Road, and found Mr Lawal lying on the ground, bleeding.
Detectives believe the defendants ran back to the property in Durham Way after the fatal stabbing and were described by a witness as being 'pumped and full of adrenaline'.
At the same time, Mr Lawal was staggering along the pavement of Brandon Road, bleeding to death.
Before long, telephone calls were made to try to get the Frankie group out of Thetford.
Another witness – a user of the Frankie line – told police how he had received a phone call from the Frankie line at 8.59pm requesting a lift.
The Frankie line called him again at 9.38pm and 11.07pm making the same request.
Another witness told police a similar story of being asked to 'get my boys out of town'.
Eventually lifts were arranged for Zito and Desousa.
Not long after and following a tip-off from a member of the public, officers raced to the house in Durham Way and saw Saba and Singh running off in the direction of Edinburgh Way and Ely Way.
Singh was found on a footpath outside a house in Canterbury Way a short while later and was arrested.
He answered ‘no comment’ in six separate police interviews carried out in October and December 2019.
Two t-shirts and a jacket he was wearing at the time he was arrested showed signs of damage by what detectives believe was a sharp bladed object.
Once the defendants were out of Thetford, mobile phone numbers connected to the Frankie line were switched off and not used again.
Saba was first arrested on October 15, 2019 in Haverhill, Zito on October 24, 2019, Annius at her home in Bedfordshire on November 7, 2019 and Desousa was first arrested in London on November 20, 2019.
On September 18, 2020, Saba, Singh, Zito and Desousa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs – cocaine and diamorphine, and Annius pleaded guilty to supplying crack cocaine and heroin.
On November 19, 2021, Singh pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Norwich Crown Court.
Detective Chief Inspector Phill Gray, who led the investigation on behalf of the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team, said: “This was a complex and challenging investigation – one in which detectives examined thousands of pieces of evidence, witness statements and CCTV footage to try to piece together what happened in the hours leading up to Mr Lawal’s death and immediately afterwards.
“I am pleased we have brought Singh, Saba and their fellow defendants to justice, however I want to remember that David Lawal, who we know was also dealing drugs in Thetford, was left to die at the side of the road. He didn’t deserve his life to end this way and his family and friends are left to mourn his loss and try to come to terms with the painful truth about how he lived his life.
“We must never forget that County Lines drugs’ operations are utterly ruthless and, in this case, deadly. It’s clear from our investigation that many of those running these highly profitable businesses, as well as some of those who work for them, have a significant disregard for life. They put profit over people and couldn’t care less about those who they consider to be dispensable.
“My thanks go to all those who came forward, often at great risk to themselves, to tell us what they knew, as well as my colleagues who worked very hard and at all times of the day and night to find the truth.”
Chief Inspector Sonia Humphreys, who leads the Local Serious and Organised Crime Team at Norfolk Constabulary, said: “County lines and drug related crime enforcement has been an important priority of policing in Norfolk for many years, and this case highlights just how dangerous being involved in drugs supply can be.
“In 2016, Police and partners launched Operation Gravity which afforded an opportunity to understand the scale and risks associated with County Lines as it was presenting itself in Norfolk.
"By raising the awareness of the 'signs to look for' and how to report concerns, the constabulary was able to build a clearer intelligence picture on opportunities to both enforce against those who were supplying heroin and crack cocaine, exploiting our most vulnerable children and adults, and also identify measures to support appropriate safeguarding.
“Operation Orochi, as part of Operation Gravity, has in the past two years closed 52 county lines with 77 people being charged and over £155,000 in cash recovered. There have been 45 convictions as a result, coming to a total sentencing date of 177 years and 2 months.
“Police and partners rely on information from the public in identifying communities and individuals at risk of violence and exploitation due to County Lines, should the public have any concerns we would encourage them to report to us and to call 999 in an emergency.”
Albert Lawal released a statement on behalf of the family following today’s sentencing.
He said: “In my Nigerian culture, David was the next in line behind me to be the leader of our family and the ‘man of the house’.
"All my life achievements reflect on him after I’ve gone, but now it’s David who has gone. His life was so short lived. It has left a huge vacuum within the family and he can never be replaced. Just before he was taken from us, we were planning a family trip to Nigeria which would have been his first time.
“When we heard the awful news, we were devastated. My wife, David’s mother, collapsed when she heard the news. His siblings are lost without him now he has been taken from them all too soon.
“David had just started an organic soap business which we were all so happy about as he seemed to be planning for a great future. We are so surprised that he was mixing with these types of people when we found out. I am so lost and so sad about it all now.
“My wife has not been herself since and now suffers with illness. She is heartbroken and doesn’t know how she will get through life without her son.
“My daughter Hannah has suffered as she’s no longer able to work as a youth worker as she finds it difficult to remain objective now she has suffered with the effects of knife crime. Her brother has gone, it’s all still very surreal and I don’t think it’s actually clicked with her yet. Her nine-year-old daughter has lost her uncle and is traumatised by it all.
“Hannah hopes the sentences help these people reflect on what they’ve done to David, and to his family. Nothing has been gained from their actions. Her daughter will never have cousins to play with and David will never now have the chance to be a father.
“His other sister Joan says she has lost someone she loved, they were only two years’ apart in age and had many plans together, including going to Nigeria for the first time. She is sad that they will never experience a life together in the future.
“I have no grudge against the people concerned in David’s death. We all forgive them and leave judgment to God.”
