Four men convicted of plotting drive-by killing
Four men have been convicted for plotting to murder a gang rival in a drive-by shooting after being linked to the killing by CCTV footage.
Dior Jackson, Ihsaan Bernard, Omarni Bernard-Sewell and Ayuub Mahmood had denied conspiring to murder Dante Mullings in May 2019.
But they were found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday of conspiracy to murder, and possessing a gun with intent to endanger life.
Dante Mullings was in a car parked by shops in St Vincent Street West, Ladywood, at 5pm on May 7 2019 when a gunman opened fired from a passing vehicle.
At least eight shots were discharged from a pistol aimed out of the VW Passat’s passenger window, with one striking Mr Mullings in the lower back and two other passengers suffering gunshot wounds.
CCTV footage shows Mr Mullings sprint from the car and hurdle roadside barriers, but he subsequently collapsed seconds later having suffered fatal internal injuries.
The Passat, which was stolen and displaying cloned number plates, was found on fire in Duddeston Manor Road in Nechells later that night.
Bernard and Bernard-Sewell, both prominent Birmingham gang members, orchestrated the murder plot in revenge for a serious stabbing less than 24 hours earlier that left a friend critically ill in hospital.
Detectives from West Midlands Police undertook a painstaking trawl of CCTV to track the Passat at various points throughout the day including the area of Great Hampton Row immediately after the murder.
Footage shows 20-year-old Jackson walk from the direction of the Passat into a block of flats wearing a grey hoody and re-emerge minutes later having changed tops, with further CCTV and phone enquiries implicating Bernard and Bernard-Sewell.
Detectives discovered Mahmood collected the Passat’s cloned number plates on the day of the murder.
The 24-year-old Bernard-Sewell was arrested from his home in Sturge Close, Selly Oak, on July 16 while 21-year-old Bernard from Anerley Road, Kingstanding, was detained at Birmingham Airport later that day as he arrived on a flight from Amsterdam.
The 20-year-old Jackson from Waddington Avenue, Great Barr, surrendered to police the following day and 19-year-old Mahmood, from Lozells Street, was arrested during a dawn raid on August 7.
The murder weapon was found in a bag hidden in bushes in Charter Street, Leicester on November 4, 2019 and was found by ballistics experts to have fired the rounds that killed Mr Mullings.
All four men will be sentenced at a later date.
