Murderer who kept designer manbag guilty of murder

Tyreece Scott was fatally stabbed in a drug-dealing dispute

A drug dealer who stabbed a rival has been found guilty of his murder after keeping a designer Louis Vuitton-style manbag he had with him at the scene.

Dualla Abdi failed to ditch the luxury accessory he was carrying when he attacked 24-year-old Tyreece Scott in the street in Hounslow, west London, in the early hours of 16 January last year.

Having having disposed of his clothes after stabbing Mr Scott in the chest, he kept the bag, which prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC said helped police to put 20-year-old Abdi at the scene due to a distinctive buckle on its strap.

Getaway driver Ben Laing, 24, was also found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey trial. They will be sentenced on 27 February.

Reda Mohamed, 24, from Hounslow, and Morgan Allen, 29, from Chertsey, Surrey, were convicted of perverting the course of justice.

The court had heard how Abdi, from Acton, and Laing, from Feltham, had driven up beside the victim and got out.

Abdi delivered the fatal blow as Laing stood beside him, jurors were told. Mr Scott bled to death on the residential street.

'Ugly, competitive business'

Mohamed and Allen helped the pair flee to Morocco. Abdi and Laing were arrested at Stansted Airport on 19 January on their return to the UK.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC told jurors the background to the murder was linked to drug dealing and Mr Scott had been operating on rival territory.

Ms Johnson said: "We will never know the precise reason why Tyreece Scott died that night. There is no evidence that he knew the other defendants or had met them before.

"Drug dealing is an ugly, competitive business in which dealers protect their 'turf' at any cost. It was Tyreece Scott's exposure to that world which led to his murder."

Evidence including CCTV footage, mobile phone data and a GPS tracker on the attacker's hire car made a "compelling" case against the defendants, jurors were told.

The court heard that Abdi denied being the knifeman while Laing admitted being at the scene but claimed he had no knowledge that his co-defendant was going to stab Mr Scott.

Mohamed and Allen denied knowing anything about the stabbing.