Saul Murray: Four jailed over Luton fake Rolexes killing

Saul Murray was described by his family as a "beautiful soul, a loving father, son, brother, uncle and friend"

Four people have been jailed for the robbery-gone-wrong killing of a man who posed on Instagram with fake Rolexes.

Saul Murray, 33, met two women at his Luton flat in February 2022, who had "sexual activity" with him and gave him the sedative GHB.

Two men then joined them, and Mr Murray was later found stabbed.

Ikem Affia, 31, of Hackney, east London, was jailed for life for murder. Three others were jailed for manslaughter.

The Luton Crown Court trial heard Mr Murray, who died from a deep wound to his thigh, was found by a night shift worker at the flats on 27 February.

• Rare designer coat helped snare killer, say police

• Night of robbery-gone-wrong killing caught on CCTV

CCTV footage showed four people leaving the flat, and their victim was found naked in a pool of blood in the communal entrance to the flats in New Town Street.

Ikem Affia (top left), Surpreet Dhillon (top right), Temidayo Awe (bottom left), Cleon Brown (bottom right) have all been jailed for killing Saul Murray

The court was told defendant Surpreet Dhillon made contact with Mr Murray via Instagram and WhatsApp, and the four defendants travelled to Luton from London in a Mercedes A-class car that Cleon Brown had hired.

Prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff KC said Dhillon and co-defendant Temidayo Awe met the victim outside his flat and the two women shared brandy with him inside and also gave him GHB "to knock him out".

She said some degree of sexual activity took place and said the pair "admit they have done this before - setting up men and stealing items from them, including watches, while those men are asleep".

A night shift worker found Saul Murray's body outside his flat

But the women summoned their males accomplices Affia and Brown because the drug had not knocked him out.

A post-mortem examination concluded Mr Murray died as a result of blood loss from a knife wound, Bedfordshire Police said.

Judge Michael Simon said: "Something went wrong with the primary plan [the robbery] - exactly what went wrong is beyond the court's capacity to be sure of within the available evidence."

When she gave evidence, Dhillon admitted targeting six men in similar so-called honeytraps between October 2021 and February 2022, and that Awe had been involved on four occasions.

The judge said Dhillon lived a "predatory lifestyle" by contacting men on social media.

"Something that seemed like an easy money game had the potential to go wrong," he said.

'Cavernous void'

In a victim personal statement, Mr Murray's father Colin said the CCTV footage was "the last thing I think about before going to sleep and first thing I think about when I wake up".

Judge Simon said: "Nothing this court says or does can possibly repair the cavernous void in the hearts and lives of those to whom Saul Murray meant so much."

Affia, of Shore Place, was jailed for life with a minimum of 25 years after being found guilty of murder and having a blade.

Dhillon, 36, of Carnarvon Road in Stratford, east London; Cleon Brown, 29, of King Edward's Road, Hackney, east London; and Temidayo Awe, 21, of Saunders Street in Gillingham, Kent, were convicted of manslaughter.

All four defendants were convicted of conspiring to rob.

Brown was jailed for 11 years, Dhillon was sentenced to 10 years and Awe for seven years.

Det Insp Dale Mepstead, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: "This was clearly a planned attack; facilitated by Dhillon and Awe and carried out by Affia and Brown.

"It's obvious from the way the two women used a sedative substance on Mr Murray and the fact Affia was armed with a knife that they were prepared to get what they wanted at any cost - which sadly was Mr Murray's life."

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