Keelan Wilson murder trial told of alleged killer's postcode gang allegiance

But Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Nehemie Tampwo, aged 19, said neither he or Brian Sasa, Tyrique King and Zenay Pennant-Phillips were members of the Wolverhampton-based V3 gang.

All four are accused of murdering Keelan Wilson.

Prosecutors say Keelan was killed near his home in Strathfield Walk, in the Merry Hill area of Wolverhampton, on May 29, 2018, due to an escalation of rivalries between the city’s V2 and V3 gangs.

In cross examination, Crown prosecutor Michael Duck QC, said: “The prosecution say all of you were members of the V3 gang, associated with them, the Eastfield Boys.”

More from the trial:

• Accused denies being member of violent street gang

• Victim is named in ‘drill’ song found on alleged killer’s phone

• CCTV footage of suspects shown to jury

• 'Whooping war cry' heard moments before fatal attack

• Attack on teen described as being like 'piranhas feeding'

• Father denies machete attack claim

• Victim's mother relives night of murder in court

• Murder trial told how alleged killer tried to get rid of bloodstained clothing

• Wolverhampton schoolboy stabbed 40 times 'over postcode gang tension'

But Tampwo denied this, to which Mr Duck replied: “This gang, Mr Tampwo, is getting small. You are not a member of it. The three men in the dock aren’t. Tell us who is.”

Tampwo said one of the V3 gang members was an associate of his, whose house he claimed to have stayed at on the night Keelan was stabbed to death.

The trial heard Tampwo was told to dispose of clothes and trainers containing Keelan’s DNA the day after he was murdered.

At a previous hearing, Tampwo refused to name the associate who gave him the items out of fear of being a “snitch”.

But in disclosing the names of V3 gang members, Mr Duck questioned Tampwo’s “snitch loyalty” and claimed Tampwo was trying to protect his co-defendants in the dock.

The court heard Sasa is Tampwo’s cousin while Pennant-Phillips is his long-time friend.

Asked about whether he was a V3 gang member, Tampwo said: “I wasn’t. They were people that I knew in the area. The difference is they would say there are part of a gang. They would claim to be part of it. I was just friends with them.”

Jurors were told Tampwo made a drill song about “swinging samurai swords at ops” and used the term “Trizz Block City”, which referred to the WV3 postcode area of Wolverhampton.

Tampwo, of Fern Grove, Bletchley, and fellow 19-year-olds Sasa, of Long Ley, Heath Town; King, of Chelwood Gardens, Bilston; and Pennant-Phillips, whose address cannot be published, all deny murder.

The trial continues.