Two individuals have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a drill music performer. The incident occurred when the victim drove into the territory of a rival gang in south London and attacked another rapper with a large knife.
In October 2021, Yaseen Bullock, 21, was found guilty of murdering Salem Koudou, 20, in the first of three murder trials. In October 2022, Darius Kwakye, 29, was also convicted of Koudou’s murder.
During the sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court, Judge Andrew Lees stated that both defendants willingly participated in a premeditated murder with the intention to kill. Mr. Kwakye received a minimum prison term of 19 years, while Mr. Bullock was ordered to serve at least 17-and-a-half years.
Two other drill artists, Shaquille Graham (MDargg) and Mickel Carty (Lil Rass), were acquitted in a separate trial. Two additional individuals, Donte McCalla and Tristan Bullock, were acquitted in earlier trials.
Salem Koudou, known as 16Shotz, was a prominent member of TeamRAW, a drill collective associated with the M Block and All ‘Bout Money (ABM) gangs in Stockwell, south London.
The incident occurred on August 20, 2020, when Koudou and two other ABM members drove a stolen VW Golf into the Angell Town estate in Brixton. The estate was celebrating the birthday of Tyreicke Williams, a rapper known as Stickz, who had a history of conflict with Koudou.
After the car crashed, the two accompanying men fled the scene. However, Koudou attacked Stickz with a large knife. He was soon outnumbered by armed individuals from the Angell Town estate, who pursued and ultimately killed him in a nearby cul-de-sac.
Drill Video and Catastrophic Injuries
An agreed fact in the case was a drill music video that referred to Yaseen Bullock as a “flick-knife pro.” The prosecution revealed in the second trial that Koudou sustained over 30 stab wounds, resulting in catastrophic injuries such as lung, liver, stomach, and skull damage.
The prosecution stated that the ABM, 150 gang, and their allies, the 410, often engaged in taunting and attacking each other. Koudou had planned to instigate an altercation on August 20, 2020, but his plan did not unfold as intended.
‘Significant Act of Provocation’
During the sentencing hearing, Mr. Kwakye’s barrister acknowledged the murder as an act of gratuitous violence. However, he claimed that the victim’s actions, which included crashing a stolen car into Mr. Kwakye’s vehicle and attacking people with a machete, constituted a significant act of provocation. The defense did not argue that Mr. Kwakye intended to kill.
The trial did not mention the drill music videos produced by rival gangs, which mocked the death of 16Shotz.
Eight months after the incident, nobody has been charged in the murders of Lemar Urquhart (Perm) and Guilherme Messias Da Silva, who were killed in Brixton on October 30, 2022.