London - The father of a schoolboy shunted off a moped and stabbed to death in the street said he hoped gang members would ‘learn a lesson’ after his son’s killer was found guilty of murder on Wednesday.
Jaden Moodie’s family had moved the 14-year-old from Nottingham to London in a desperate bid to take him away from the gang violence that had taken a grip on his young life.
But six months later, he became this year’s youngest victim of gang crime – murdered by drug dealers locked in a bloody turf war. Ayoub Majdouline, 19, who has himself been deemed a ‘victim of modern slavery’, was found guilty of the schoolboy’s murder Wednesday.
Both Jaden and Majdouline had been groomed by ‘elders’ to run county lines drug operations for their respective gangs.
Jaden’s father Julian, 52, told the Daily Mail: "Thank God for British justice. They killed my little boy, it is too late for him, but I hope this will teach a lesson to these young men in gangs to think, 'is this worthwhile, or is this just madness?' before they do something else stupid and take another life." Jaden’s mother Jada, 45, called on drug users to think about the damage their habit was causing, because children were "dropping like flies".
She added: "When they were killing him they could see he was a child. So I’ve got no sympathy and no words. They were cowards. He killed a child. He’s a child-killer." Jaden’s family believe his attackers mistakenly targeted the young Arsenal fan after recognising the moped he had borrowed from an older friend. Jaden’s grandmother, Angela, said: "They recognised the moped, no way they were targeting him. He was just 14."
Jurors were shocked when shown horrifying CCTV footage of the killers’ stolen Mercedes ramming Jaden, sending his helmet soaring above the car and his body crumpling on to the bonnet.
Four men then sprinted from the car and three of them carried out the "frenzied" attack on the teenager, before running back to the car and driving off. Jaden was stabbed nine times. Oliver Glasgow QC, prosecuting, said: "Fourteen seconds was all it took. Jaden didn’t stand a chance."
Jaden died in the street in Leyton, east London, on the evening of January 8. His mother and four elder siblings had moved from Nottingham to Waltham Forest, north-east London, over the summer of 2018 to be closer to his grandmother and ‘make a new start,’ having been caught up in gang violence in the Midlands.
"They moved away from the gangs up there, the gangland stuff is just too much in Nottingham," one family member said. But it wasn’t long before London’s thriving gang culture took hold of the impressionable teenager.
The Beaumont Crew, also known as Let’s Get Rich, has been one of the biggest gangs in Waltham Forest for almost 30 years.
Jaden became the gang’s youngest member after lying about his age to recruiters, the court heard. The gang is locked in a fierce rivalry with a gang known as the Mali Boys, of which Majdouline is a member.
It can also now be reported that Majdouline’s trial coincided with another case at the Old Bailey involving the Mali Boys. Hamza Ul Haq, 21, Loic Nengese, 19, and a 16-year-old were found guilty of shooting dead Joseph Williams-Torres, 20, in March last year. The trials were briefly halted after a fight broke out in the cells between Majdouline and Ul Haq.
Four other young men involved in Jaden’s killing are still walking the streets. CCTV shows two other men stabbing and kicking the schoolboy, while another man stands and watches. A fifth man remained at the wheel of the stolen Mercedes.
Detective Inspector Dave Hillier of Scotland Yard said last night: "Our work is not over yet. We know that there were five people in that black Mercedes. Rest assured, our investigation is continuing around the clock and will continue to do so until all those responsible for Jaden’s murder are brought to justice."
Majdouline will be sentenced next Wednesday.