Life For Shop Manager's Murderer

An east London teenager has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years for the murder of a Hackney shop manager.

Kobina Essel, 19, murdered Matalan worker Jamie Simpson on 22 April 2008.

Essel was jailed along with three other males, who were convicted of manslaughter.

Anthony Maina, 20, of no fixed address was jailed for six years. Randy Osei-Owusu, 17, of Brion Place E14 was jailed for nine years.

Simeon Jumah, 25, of Eighth Avenue E12 was jailed for 14 years, to serve half his sentence in custody and half on license.

Three defendants were also jailed after being convicted of conspiracy to rob.

Duane Owusu, 20, of no fixed address was jailed for eight years. Jamal Chambers, 18, of Broomfield Street E14 was jailed for seven years.

Roy Williams, 31 of Regan House, Snells Park N18 was jailed for ten years.

Four defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob at an earlier hearing.

Simeon Jumah, 25, of Eighth Avenue E12 was jailed for 12 years to run concurrent with his sentence for manslaughter.

Kobina Essel, 19, was jailed for 11 years to run concurrent with his sentence for murder.

Randy Osei-Owusu, 17, of Brion Place, E14 was jailed for six years to run concurrent with his sentence for manslaughter.

Anthony Maina, 19, of no fixed address was jailed for five years to run concurrent with his sentence for manslaughter.

Owusu, Williams and Jamal Chambers were found not guilty of murder.

Mr Simpson, 33, was going about his job as a store manager at Matalan, Hackney when he was fatally stabbed. The defendants had devised a plan to steal the store's takings.

Roy Williams, the store's security guard, conspired with others to rob the premises.

He was able to inform the others how to get into the store, avoiding CCTV and telling them where to hide.

Essel stabbed Jamie fatally in the neck and back, having made no attempt to get the cash. He fled with his assailants empty handed, via the store's rear car park in Dalston Lane.

Police were called at 8pm on 22 March 2008 to reports of a man stabbed in the store.

London Ambulance Service attended but Mr Simpson was pronounced dead half an hour later.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a stab wound to the neck. The murder weapon has never been found.

A total of 22 people were arrested during the course of the investigation.

(PR/GK)