David Gomoh stabbing: NHS worker killed at random by gang, Old Bailey told

David Gomoh graduated with a marketing degree from London South Bank University

An NHS worker was stabbed to death by gang members who were selecting targets at random in a "petty but fatal game of one-upmanship", a court has heard.

David Gomoh, 24, was attacked seconds after leaving his home in Canning Town, east London, on 26 April 2020.

He was killed days after his father had died with coronavirus.

Muhammad Jalloh, 19, David Ture, 19, Vanei Colubali, 22, and a 17-year-old boy from Telford, Shropshire, all deny murder.

The Old Bailey heard that the group, members of the Northsides Newham Gang, chose Mr Gomoh at random to send a message to the Custom House and Beckton gangs.

Mr Gomoh had no links to any gang.

Before the killing, the defendants had tried to attack another man in the same area who managed to escape, the court heard.

'Where are you from?'

Mr Gomoh, who worked in supply and procurement for the NHS, suffered catastrophic injuries in the attack, on Freemasons Road. He managed to get to his feet and stumble the short distance home, the jury was told.

He eventually bled to death in front of his family.

In the seconds before the attack, Mr Gomoh had been on the phone to his girlfriend.

The court was told she heard someone demand: "Where are you from?", followed by the sounds of a struggle.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said Mr Gomoh was chosen because "he had the misfortune to live in an area of London that is frequented by rival gangs".

He described them as "rival gangs who are involved in a violent feud with each other, rival gangs who like to attack each other, and rival gangs who like to brag about the devastation they have wrought upon each other".

Mr Jalloh, from Cambridge, Mr Ture and Mr Colubali, both of no fixed address, also deny conspiracy to cause GBH in connection with an earlier incident.

The trial continues.