Four men have been jailed for the killing of 32-year-old Emmanuel Odunlami in the City of London which occurred in May 2022.
Jordell Menzies, aged 27, from Brent, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 31 years for murdering Mr Odunlami.
Additionally, Menzies has been sentenced to eight years for robbery, to run concurrently. Three other associates were convicted of manslaughter and robbery and were sentenced to the following. Quincy Ffrench, aged 28, from Tottenham, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and seven years and four months for robbery, to run concurrently. Louis Vandrose, aged 28, of Beulah Road, Thornton Heath has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter and seven years and four months for robbery, to run concurrently. Kavindu Hettiarachchi, 31, from Harrow has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for manslaughter and 10 years for robbery, to run concurrently.
Emmanuel’s fiancée Rajbir Kaur said: “Emmanuel was so smart and a really great hands-on father. We all loved him and miss him so much. To be attacked for the watch he was wearing just doesn’t make sense even now. It was a senseless and unprovoked attack. There has been no remorse from those who did this. It is a tragedy, that we will deal with for the rest of our lives.
“I want to thank family and friends and my clients for their understanding. I’m so grateful to our child’s school for keeping him grounded and our youngest son’s nursery for their support. There are so many charities who have reached out and helped, including Smile for Joel, Victim Support, The Ben Kinsella Trust and Support after Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM). Finally, I’d like to thank the City of London Police for their investigation and bringing us the truth and to the Family Liaison Officers who have been so supportive. I never imagined this happening to us. Knife crime is such a problem, and it is hard to feel safe anymore. I just want to make Emmanuel proud and give our children the best life possible.”
On Sunday, 1 May 2022, Emmanuel Odunlami attended an event at Haz Restaurant on Foster Lane. Emmanuel, was a self-employed business owner, who had a fiancée and two young children. He was attending a private members’ event, along with some friends, to celebrate his birthday. Unbeknownst to Emmanuel, Hettiarachchi, a security guard for the event, was recording him on his mobile phone. The images were subsequently sent to Vandrose, highlighting Emmanuel as a target because of his expensive watch.
After the event had finished, at around 23.20 hours, Emmanuel and a friend left the venue and were standing on Foster Lane outside Goldsmith’s Hall. Emmanuel’s car was parked in Gresham Street, just west of the junction with Noble Street.
The suspect vehicle, a three door white Mercedes was registered to Ffrench’s mother. The registration had been doctored.. The car drove past Emmanuel in Foster Lane and parked up in Noble Street.
Ffrench drove the car while Menzies and Vandrose were in the front and rear passenger seats. As Emmanuel appeared to approach his vehicle, all three men got out of the car and ran towards him with Menzies at the front. He had a knife in his hand and was followed by Vandrose and Ffrench. Emmanuel ran into the middle of Gresham Street and was chased by Menzies, who twice tried to trip him before striking Emmanuel and stabbing him in the heart with a lock knife. The stabbing caused Emmanuel to fall backwards against a parked car.
Vandrose bundled Emmanuel to the floor, whilst Menzies continued to kick him. Ffrench ran towards them, bent over Emmanuel and removed the watch from his wrist. Words to the effect of “GOT IT, GOT IT, YEAH” can be heard on CCTV footage covering the attack which also had audio and sound. The three men then ran back to their vehicle and left the scene.
Emmanuel was seen to get up and walk back towards his vehicle where he collapsed on the bonnet before falling to the ground. His friends ran to try and help him. Officers arrived on scene shortly afterwards, to find Emmanuel had sustained a stab wound. They immediately provided first aid before the London Ambulance Service arrived. Emmanuel was transported to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel where he was sadly pronounced dead at 00.08 hours on Monday, 2 May, 2022.
External CCTV showed Hettiarachchi observing the attack before walking over to where Emmanuel was lying on the floor. He then simply turned around and walked away. His colleague, Antonios Kfoury, did the same. Instead of trying to help Emmanuel both men returned to their vehicle before the arrival of police officers.
The watch that was stolen had the appearance of a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch with diamond encrusting, which if genuine, would be valued in the region of £125,000.00. It is now known that the watch was in fact a fake, but has never been recovered.
The lock knife used to kill Emmanuel was found the following morning in London Wall by a member of the public. The knife had been thrown out of the suspects’ car window. Traces of blood and fatty tissue belonging to Emmanuel were found on it together with Menzies’ DNA on the handle.
Having identified the true registration of Ffrench’s vehicle, police officers arrested Ffrench the following day. Menzies was arrested on the 16 May 2022 and Vandrose was arrested at Lisbon airport on 10th July 2022.
Antonios Kfoury, aged 23, of West Twyford, was found guilty on 18 April 2023 of perverting the course of justice and subsequently received an 18 month custodial sentence.
Kfoury had provided a false statement to the Police, deliberately omitting Hettiarachchi by advising that there were only four members of security on duty on the night when in fact there were five; the fifth member being Hettiarachchi. Mr Kfoury also attempted to influence the evidence provided by another member of the security team.
Detective Chief Inspector Edelle Michaels from the City of London Police Major Crime Team said: “Our thoughts are with Emmanuel’s family and friends who have been devastated by the death of a young man out celebrating his birthday.
“Those responsible for this callous and co-ordinated murder have rightly been sentenced to long custodial sentences. I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to bring these men to justice.”
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