Jermaine Goupall stabbed to death over postcode gang rivalry, court hears

The 15-year-old from Croydon was chased down by two or three masked attackers armed with knives or machetes, the Old Bailey heard today (January 9).

He was stabbed in the thigh and bled to death on the evening of August 8 last year in Georgia Road, Thornton Heath.

Five defendants alleged to be linked to the CR0 gang are on trial accused of his murder.

Prosecutor Mukul Chawla QC said they donned masks or balaclavas and went to the scene in a Ford Focus to attack people they believed to be part of a rival gang called CR7.

He said: "All of the evidence leads to the clear conclusion that all five of them were present in the car and present for the purpose of mounting an attack on members of the CR7 gang.

"They were nothing more than a marauding gang of thugs who had gone to Thornton Heath and were there to hunt down anyone whom they thought was from the CR7 gang unfortunate enough to get in their way.

"That attack resulted in the stabbing and death of Jermaine Goupall.

"Although it is not possible to establish exactly who was responsible for the fatal injury, the prosecution allege that each of these defendants had a common intention to cause, at very least, serious injury to anyone from the CR7 gang that they encountered."

The prosecutor said tensions were raised between the two gangs following a series of music videos posted online in which they "taunted" each other.

"The motivation for the attack appears to lie in the fact that each of the defendants is part, or connected with members, of the CR0 gang," the prosecutor said.

"The evidence demonstrates that this was a pre-planned attack with knives or similar implements on those that they thought were part of the rival CR7 gang."

Samuel Oliver-Rowland, 18, Saskia Haye-Elliott, 18, Daniel Luke, 18, and a 16-year-old boy, from Croydon, along with Adam Benzahi, 21, of Carshalton, deny murder.

The trial continues.