Man jailed over shooting murder of music manager

Temitope Adeyinka was detained in Malaga in May 2024 and arrested after being transported to Heathrow Airport

A drug dealer who acted as a lookout during the murder of a music manager at a house party has been jailed for 19 years.

Father-of-three Robert Powell, 50, was shot seven times as he left the house in Roydon near Harlow in Essex in June 2020.

Temitope Adeyinka, 41, of Buxton Road in Stratford, east London, was found guilty of manslaughter following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

Two of his co-defendants were convicted of murder and given lengthy jail sentences last year.

Sentencing Adeyinka, Judge Mr Justice Bennathan said: "You must have known a team was being assembled.

"By the time you were outside Hills House, you must've known for many hours you were joining in an elaborately planned attack."

Robert Powell had three adult children and two grandchildren

Mr Powell managed musicians, including rapper Dutchavelli, who had a top-10 track with Stormzy.

He suffered 15 wounds from seven shots outside Hills House in Water Lane, Roydon, at 04:47 BST on 13 June. He died the following day in hospital.

The bullets were fired from a 9mm Luger semi-automatic pistol, and one bullet knocked the gold grill from his mouth.

His two adult sons were with him at the time.

"It must have been a terrifying spectacle to witness," said prosecutor Justin Rouse KC.

Two women were also injured by stray bullets during the shooting

Group ring-leader Nana Oppong, 45, of West Road in Stratford, and Israar Shah, 41, of Ongar Road in Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, were found guilty of murder in May 2024.

Oppong was jailed for a minimum of 38 years, and Shah - hired as a spotter and described as a "useful idiot" by the judge in his trial - was sentenced to at least 26 years.

The suspects were located in three different cars, which quickly drove off from the scene.

Oppong was caught entering Morocco, hiding in the back of a lorry in 2022, while Shah and Adeyinka were arrested in Spain.

Prosecutors have said two other men - who have not been brought to court - were involved in the murder.

Mr Rouse said it "doesn't matter who pulled the trigger" but that the gunman emerged from a Ford Kuga - the same vehicle that Oppong was inside.

Israar Shah was found hiding out in a hotel in Malaga and was also deported back to the UK

The victim's daughter, Storm Powell, attended both of the criminal trials and read a victim impact statement to the court.

She said she suffered nightmares and had been scared knowing the "murderers were still walking free".

"It has been painful, confusing, heavy, and lonely," said Ms Powell.

Mr Powell's sister, Jenny Powell, addressed the defendants in her statement, telling them they prolonged the family's agony by going on the run.

"You have caused so much pain, and ripples of that are still being felt today."

Israar Shah, Temitope Adeyinka and Nana Oppong have all now been jailed over Robert Powell's murder

Adeyinka had nine previous convictions and was still on licence, having been convicted of supplying Class A drugs when Mr Powell was killed.

Defence barrister James Scobie KC suggested his client did not know Oppong was carrying a loaded firearm at the scene and indicated Adeyinka was recruited late to the operation.

"He didn't actually get out of the vehicle; he was muscle," said Mr Scobie.

Adeyinka had been found not guilty of the more serious offence of murder by jurors and was also found not guilty of possessing a firearm.

The court was told Mr Powell, who also had two grandchildren, would have turned 56 on the day of the sentencing - 13 November.