Another Ghanaian teenager jailed for life

Story: Nana Sifa Twum, London

Another Ghanaian teenager resident in London, Kobina Essel, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.

Two other Ghanaians — Duane Owusu, 20, and Randy Osei-Owusu, 17 — who were among six accomplices, were also sentenced to eight years and six years respectively.

Two other non-Ghanaian accomplices — Jamal Chambers of Broomfield Street E¬¬¬14, 18 years, and Roy Williams of Regan House, Snells Park N18, 31 years —were sentenced to seven and 10 years respectively.

Essel, 19, and his six accomplices were found guilty of murdering Jamie Simpson, 33, a storekeeper of Matalan Stores in Hackney in East London on April 22, 2008.

This is the fourth time in recent times that Ghanaian teenagers in London have been found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

In 2005, a Ghanaian teenager, Kenneth Amoah, who murdered his former friend just yards from his victim’s home after a row over a girl, was jailed for life.

Last year two teenage Ghanaian brothers George Amponsah, 19, and Freddie Amponsah, 17, residing in the United Kingdom with their parents were also jailed for life by a court in London after they were found guilty of the murder of another teenager, Shaquille Smith, 14.

Jackie Sebire of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command told the Old Bailey Court that “Jamie was a good man who was simply going about his job as a store manager at Matalan, Hackney when he was fatally stabbed”.

He lost his life because the defendants, who each played their various parts, had devised a plan to steal the store's takings.

He said Kobina Essel stabbed Jamie fatally in the neck and back, having made no attempt to get the cash they came for. Roy Williams, the store's security guard, betrayed Jamie's trust by conspiring with the others to rob the very premises and staff he was supposed to protect.

"A reconnaissance visit was held the day before and Williams was able to inform the others how to get into the store, avoiding CCTV and telling them where to hide,” he added.

According to Jackie Sebire, as Williams finished work that night, he left Jamie and his colleagues knowing the robbers were lying in wait, ready to approach Jamie.

A murder investigation was launched following the death of Jamie Simpson, 33, at the Kingsland Shopping Centre, Hackney, E8 on March 22, 2008.

The police were called at 20:00 hours to reports of a man stabbed in the Matalan store at the shopping centre. London Ambulance Service attended and Jamie was pronounced dead at 20:36 hours.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a stab wound to the neck.