SMN and Samatha Joseph!!!!

Honeytrap' girl Samantha Joseph convicted of Shakilus Townsend murder

A schoolgirl who acted as a honeytrap to lure a besotted schoolboy to his death at the hands of a street gang is facing life in prison after being convicted of his murder.

Samantha Joseph, who was 15 at the time, and a group of six teenagers, including her boyfriend, ambushed and stabbed to death Shakilus Townsend, 16, in a suburban cul-de-sac.

After a ten-week trial at the Old Bailey, the victim’s mother has called on parents and the wider community to step up their efforts to eradicate knife and gun crime.

Shakilus was murdered because he was caught in a love triangle involving Joseph and a gang member. Joseph, who can be named publicly for the first time, led Shakilus to Danny McLean, 18, and the other gang members, who beat him with a baseball bat before stabbing him six times.

McLean, a member of the SMN (Shine My Nine) gang in Croydon, South London, was unaware that Joseph had been seeing Shakilus in secret for nearly a month. When he discovered her duplicity, McLean “dumped” her, but she promised to do anything to get him back, even though he had beaten her regularly.

Shakilus had told his mother that he was smitten with a “beautiful girl”, saying that one day he would marry her. But by then McLean had demanded that Joseph honour her promise and deliver Shakilus to them.

Joseph arranged to meet Shakilus on the pretext of introducing him to a cousin. Instead, in July last year, she led him to a cul-de-sac in Thornton Heath, South London, sending a text message to alert the waiting gang.

Andre Thompson, then 16, beat him with a baseball bat while others kicked and stabbed him or acted as lookouts. When McLean took his turn to stab the boy, he twisted the knife — an act of revenge that left a gaping hole in Shakilus’s stomach.

Neighbours who ran to the scene found the boy crying: “Mummy, mummy, mummy . . . I don’t want to die.” Witnesses saw the floral pattern of Joseph’s dress among the fleeing gang and McLean’s orange bandana, the trademark headgear of the SMN gang.

Footage from a CCTV camera taken a short while later showed Joseph, of Brockley, southeast London, walking beside McLean, carrying his hooded top and a cream-coloured handbag stained with blood. She confessed later to friends that she had agreed to “get Shak set” and only liked him because he lavished gifts on her.

For Tyrell Ellis, 19, and his brother Don-Carlos, 18, the killing was just another step to fulfilling their dream of being gangsters. Tyrell, known as Drastik, had tried hard to build up a criminal record. He was subject to a two-year ASBO for gang-related crimes at the time of the attack. Don-Carlos, known as Rugz, was on bail and due to report to a police station on the day of the killing.

Along with the other members of the gang, Andre Johnson-Haynes, 18, a former public schoolboy from Croydon, who played rugby for London Irish, and Michael Akinfenwa, 17, were also found guilty of murder.

Police might have arrested DonCarlos and Akinfenwa after being given their “street names”, but not full identities, by another teenager who had been stabbed in a gang feud a few months before Shakilus’s murder. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has begun an investigation.

Although Shakilus’s mother insisted that he had turned over a new leaf, he also had a history of violence. His profile on a social networking website showed him wearing a stab-proof vest and jabbing a blade into it next to the message: “I’m a sweet boy, slash your face up if you f*** around with me.”

At 13 he was convicted of common assault and the following year was found carrying an axe in the street. He also had convictions for robbery and carrying an axe and a knife.

In court McLean admitted stabbing Shakilus, insisting that it had been in self-defence and that he was aware of his victim’s reputation. After the stabbing, McLean and Joseph had wiped Shakilus’s account on Bebo, the social networking site, in order to delete any link between them.

As rumours spread of Joseph’s betrayal, Shakilus’s friends used such sites to condemn her. One comment read: “Remember u set up Shak. You bitch. And he luved yooooh. You iz f****d!”

Shakilus’s mother, Nicola Dyer, 34, of Deptford, southeast London, said that action needed to be stepped up to rid the streets of the gang-culture that claimed the life of the eldest of her five children.

“First and foremost, your children are your responsibility,” she said. “But we must not just consider ourselves as parents of our own children, but to all children. It takes not a mother and father to raise a child, but a whole village. This African proverb, which was once used by Hillary Clinton, is an indication of the responsibility we all have towards one another.”

Speaking of Joseph, she said: “Shakilus really cared about her and I can’t understand how she could have callously set him up and lured him to his death.”

Detective Inspector Barney Ratcliffe said that Joseph had made various phone calls before the fatal encounter, telling McLean where she and Shakilus were. “She was an integral part of what was going to happen — if she hadn’t been involved it wouldn’t have happened.”

The seven teenagers will be sentenced in September. Scotland Yard’s leading homicide detective said that the convictions were a clear sign that police were breaking down the “wall of silence” that frequently surrounded gang violence.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell said: “Just a few years ago this case would have been very difficult. The killers are getting long sentences and those carrying knives will be aware that families, friends and communities are fed up with the gang and knife culture and are getting together to stamp it out.”

Since April, 24 out of 26 people tried for murder in London have been convicted. In the first five months of this year nine young men under the age of 21 have died in stabbings, compared with 18 in the same period last year.

EXCLUSIVE 'It's like being a Premier WAG but it suits me fine' SHOCKING INSIGHT INTO THE BRUTAL WORLD OF BRITAIN'S TEENAGE MOB CULTURE She's 19, bright, attractive and got 7 GCSEs. So why does Aliyah revel in her life as a..
Pretty Aliyah Hudson has found the man of her dreams - but that loving bond could spell violent death at any moment.

For Aliyah's boyfriend is one of Britain's most ruthless gang leaders - and those around him face being shot, stabbed or kidnapped by rival "crews".

But incredibly, "gangsta moll" Aliyah, a bright 19-year-old with a clutch of GCSEs, doesn't care.

In a shocking insight into the murderous gang culture that has brought terror to the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham and other cities, the girl nicknamed the "Death Wish Diva" said: "I know going out with him could get me killed but we've all got to die one day.

"He's done a lot of bad things to a lot of bad people, and they will no doubt take their revenge on him or on those close to him very soon. But I'll never give up this lifestyle."

Aliyah, whose boyfriend Sarge is leader of London's notorious Shine My Nine (SMN) gang, spoke openly to The People this week about the brutal and degrading world which she and other "gangsta molls" inhabit.

These girls, many from broken homes, must...

Endure a sordid initiation ceremony in which all members of the gang have sex with them in one night.

Risk carrying guns, drugs and stolen property for their callous lovers.

Take the blame for every crime their boyfriends are suspected of committing.

Aliyah said: "As the girlfriend of SMN's leader, getting shot is an occupational hazard. But I don't care."

Her graphic interview comes just weeks after one of our reporters was granted extraordinary access into the gang's secret inner circle.

These teenage gangs, which number 160 in London alone, have brought terror and casual death to their neighbourhoods and misery to respectable residents.

But cynical Aliyah sees gang life as a secure and profitable alternative to law-abiding "Civvy Street".

The youngster, one of six children who grew up in a threebedroom council house in Brixton, south London, went off the rails at an early age.

She was three when her parents divorced and says she was then regularly beaten, locked in rooms, and verbally assaulted by a relative. She said: "I had a tough upbringing, where I was in and out of care. I soughtmy kicks on the streets with like-minded rebels."

At the age of eight she became a fully-fledged member of Croydon's Dogs To Kill (DTK) gang. She said: "When I met the DTK gang, I was so happy.

"I finally found the family I craved, and loved the way of life it offered."

By the age of 13, she had been expelled from school three times and was earning up to £1,000 a DAY dealing crack cocaine and heroin for local pimps.

During the next three years, she was arrested a staggering 25 times for offences including robbery, fighting, unprovoked assaults and drug dealing.

She was eventually sent to a young offender's unit near Reading, Berks, for six months after being found guilty of house burglary.

Aliyah said: "I was a bad-ass girl with a death wish, that's for sure."

Despite her criminal background, she briefly turned her life around and studied hard to pass seven GCSEs.

She said: "I knew no matter what bad stuff I did in life, it was important to get myself some good qualifications. That way I had a way out of the gangs if I ever needed one." But within weeks of her exams, Aliyah said the lure of the streets came flooding back.

The temptation of easy money was too much for the then 16-year-old to ignore.

When she moved into a hostel and had little money, she quickly reacquainted herself with many of her old gang's members.

Aliyah said: "I was on the straight and narrow for quite a few months during my exams, and I thought I might make it on Civvy Street.

"But when I ran out of money, and when I got lonely, I wanted to get back on the streets. So I made some phone calls, and soon enough I was the old me again."

Amazingly, Aliyah was able to join another gang without any trouble because she had moved away from DTK's turf. Turning your back on one gang for another is normally repaid with a severe beating.

She explained: "I'm still mates with them - that's not normal but I get respect from them."

She routinely carried a £2,000 Magnum 357 handgun for protection and regularly dealt in drugs for extra cash.

But after meeting Sarge last year, she is now "looked after" financially by his £2,000-a-day ill-gotten gains.

She is lavished with all sorts of expensive clothes, jewellery and gifts and is guaranteed protection from rival gangs.

Aliyah, who tragically likens herself to a footballer's WAG girlfriend, said: "I don't want for anything. He buys me absolutely anything and everything I ask for.

"It's like being a WAG - we are made to look good so that our fellas look good. But that suits me fine."

Named after the Glock 9mm pistol routinely carried by gangs, her boyfriend's Shine My Nine gang claim South Norwood in London as their "turf".

The 150 members roam its streets with pistols, sawn-off shotguns, knives and baseball bats, making them one of the country's most cruel and barbaric "crews" along with Birmingham's Burger Bar Boys and Bristol's Aggi Crew.

They idolise the heroes of violent adult films like Boyz In The Hood, Goodfellas and Menace II Society.

Sarge and his closest members - or "elders" - have their pick of up to 25 young women aged between 16 and 25, who offer free sex in return for protection.

This brutal initiation involves up to 30 males, most of whom refuse to wear protection, raising fears of HIV and AIDS.

This "harem" of women competes against each other for attention, with the lucky ones becoming members' "wives" or serious girlfriends.

These are offered protection from rival gangs, and receive regular financial hand-outs.

But Aliyah must carry Sarge's arsenal of weapons on his behalf, as she is less likely to be stopped by police.

She must also allow all SMN gang members 24-hour access to her home - a rented flat in Wimbledon, south London - in an emergency.

But by far the biggest sacrifice she must make, is to take the blame for EVERY crime that her lover is suspected of committing. She said wives would rather be sent to prison than "grass" on their partners - the worst possible sin in underworld circles.

"If you were to grass on someone, they'd get to you even in prison," Aliyah said.

"You'd have no escape. It's best just to accept that it's your fault, and spend some time behind bars. That way, when you come out, you're a hero rather than a dead woman."

Despite the perils, Aliyah has no plans at present to look for legitimate work. But astonishingly she said: "If I need to, I've got the qualifications to do so."

That's if she doesn't get shot first...