Keelan Wilson: Four jailed for Wolverhampton teen's gang murder

Clockwise from top left: Zenay Pennant-Phillips, Brian Sasa, Tyrique King and Nehemie Tampwo

Four men who murdered a teenager in a "well-planned execution" metres from his home have been jailed for life.

Keelan Wilson, 15, was stabbed 43 times in Wolverhampton on 29 May 2018.

During a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, jurors heard his murder was gang-related, plotted by his killers who believed Keelan had changed factions.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Chambers QC told the men the murder was a "violent manifestation of gang culture".

Three of Keelan's killers - Brian Sasa, 20, Nehemie Tampwo, 20, and Tyrique King, 19 - were sentenced to a minimum of 18 years' imprisonment.

Keelan Wilson was 15 when he was stabbed more than 40 times

Zenay Pennant-Phillip, 19, had a slightly reduced sentence of 17 years as he had no previous criminal convictions.

Judge Chambers told the defendants: "You each played an equal part and your culpability is the same."

The court heard Keelan's murder followed a day of escalating tensions between Wolverhampton's W2 and W3 gangs, including a shooting on Legge Street and machetes being brandished in the city centre.

The defendants belonged to the W3 gang and it was believed Keelan was associating with their rivals.

In a victim impact statement, Keelan's step-father Michael Ferguson said his son had "made mistakes" but at the time of his death "had realised his friends didn't have his best interests at heart and was in the process of leaving them behind".

On the day of Keelan's death, CCTV captured a scene from the Wolverhampton city centre disorder that police said was linked to gang activity

Keelan was fatally wounded just metres from his home in an attack which witnesses described as akin to a "piranha frenzy".

Judge Chambers described the murder as "a shocking, planned execution of a 15-year-old child", with the defendants leaving their mobiles before travelling in a taxi to Keelan's home to frustrate the investigation.

Keelan suffered a number of defensive wounds which Judge Chambers said indicated "to some extent he would have been conscious and suffered during the attack".

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In a statement, his mother Kelly Ellitts said her "pain and heartache seem to never end".

"We were not only mother and son but best friends," she said.

Keelan's father Gary Wilson told the court there were "no words to describe how I felt" but said he "torments" himself thinking about his son's brutal murder.

"I saw my son laying there dead," he said. "When I close my eyes, that's what I see."

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