Lekan Akinsoji, a UK-based Nigerian, and Sundjata Keita of St Margaret’s Court, have been convicted of murdering Ahmed Deen-Jah in East London in 2017 by a UK court.

The UK police announced the conviction of the duo in a statement after they appeared at Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, on Thursday.

“Lekan Akinsoji, 27, of no fixed address and Sundjata Keita, 27, of St Margaret’s Court, E12, appeared at the Old Bailey on Thursday, 9 October, where, following a four-week trial were found guilty of murdering Ahmed Deen-Jah in East London,” the police said.

The convicts will appear at the Old Bailey on October 24 for sentencing.

Kelly Allen, a detective superintendent, who led the investigations that span almost a decade, said, “Eight years on from Ahmed’s vicious murder, today his family finally have the justice they deserve. Akinsoji and Keita have spent years thinking they have got away with murdering Ahmed, a man who they had never met and didn’t know. They drove out to Custom House and attacked Ahmed who was simply going to the shops.”

They were first arrested after police investigations identified them as suspects in the 2017 murder. But they were later released due to insufficient evidence, as officers continued complex enquiries.
 

According to the police, in 2023, an investigation review was carried out, which included a detailed phone analysis, placing Mr Keita’s phone inside the car used for the murder, travelling away from the murder. The car had travelled to Epping Forest following the murder, where it was later found on fire.

“An evidence package including forensic results from a knife sheath found close to the scene and DNA findings from the victim’s hand, which were both a match to Keita, was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service. Following this breakthrough, the men were rearrested and subsequently charged with murder,” the police said.

Their trial began on September 8, where the court heard how the victim’s murder was a result of “tit for tat” violence between gangs and that both men had been driving around the area in a stolen car, looking for people they suspected of being in a rival gang.