A 25-year-old suspect has been arrested in Lisbon, Portugal, over his alleged involvement in the hacking to death of Alexander John Soyoye by a gang in Moston, Manchester, England, in November 2020.

The Portuguese police, in a statement on Tuesday, said the suspect was among the gang members involved in a violent gang clash at the scene, where the victim, a rival gang member, was macheted and kicked to death.

The statement read, “The Polícia Judiciária (Portuguese Criminal Investigation Police), through its Criminal Information Unit, located and arrested a 25-year-old Portuguese citizen in Lisbon, suspected of the crimes of aggravated homicide and assault, which occurred in November 2020 in Manchester, United Kingdom.

“At the time, the suspect was a member of an organised gang that participated in a violent confrontation arranged through social media. Using knives, sabers, baseball bats, and other weapons, the two groups engaged in serious violence.

“The detainee is suspected of assaulting another man with a bladed weapon, causing his death. After committing the crimes, he returned to Portugal, where he worked in construction without declaring his identity. He will be brought before the Lisbon Court of Appeal for the application of a coercive measure.”

The suspect’s arrest came five years after six men and a teenage boy were convicted of the victim’s murder in 2021. The six convicted of the murder, which include Brent Tchipenda; Francesco Raji; Christopher Semedo; Antonio Octavio; Ismiel Correia; and Nelson Correia, all between the ages of 19 and 22 at the time, were jailed for life with minimum terms of between 20 and 24 years.

A seventh suspect, who was a 16-year-old at the time, was also found guilty of murder and jailed for 16 years, while one Mohammed Al-Jaf, 21 years old at the time, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and violent disorder.

The 16-year-old victim was killed during a violent conflict between rival street gangs, caused by social media and drill rap lyrics, with threats of violence and the display of weapons, including firearms, machetes and crossbows.

It was discovered during the trial of the convicts that the late victim was also associated with a Moston-based gang known as M40, who were involved in the violent conflict with a rival gang known as Representing the Danger (RTD), based in Rochdale and Oldham.

According to the Greater Manchester Police in 2022, the victim had gotten injured during the violent confrontation with the rival gang. He and his group members were being pursued on foot by a larger group towards Birchenall Street, where he got isolated from his group, and his movement began to slow down due to his injuries.

Following his increased weakness due to the injury, he fell to the ground, allowing nine of the rival gang members to catch up with him and repeatedly strike, stab and kick him until he died, while one of them filmed the assault.