Anthony Adekola murder: Three gang members jailed over M&S worker's random killing

Anthony Adekola was stabbed nine times

Three gang members who randomly murdered a Marks & Spencer worker in a postcode war have been jailed for life.

Anthony Adekola, 22, who had no links to gangs, was stabbed nine times near his home in Colindale, north-west London, last September.

The court had heard it he was simply in the "wrong place at the wrong time".

Tajaun Subaran, 20, will serve a minimum of 22 years while two 17 year-olds were given minimum terms of 18 years, and 17 years and six months.

Beautiful and loved

Mr Adekola's mother spoke of the "utter futility" of his attackers' actions.

In a victim impact statement read to the Old Bailey, Foluke Adekola said her son was a "beautiful and loved individual" and that his death was an "unprovoked and senseless" killing "over a postcode that does not belong to anyone".

Jurors were previously told the defendants, two of whom cannot be named due to their age, were from Hendon in the NW4 London postcode area, while Mr Adekola lived in NW9.

Sentencing them on Friday, Judge Simon Mayo said the intention of the defendants was to find and murder anyone they came across in the NW9 postcode and "thereby seek to score a point against a rival gang who operate in that area".

What is a 'postcode war'?

It is a conflict between gangs over territory, often stoked by videos posted on YouTube and social networking sites.

These videos usually contain taunts and threats to attack rivals if they were to dare to journey into a rival gang's postcode. The films often include footage of local landmarks as a way to clearly mark out boundaries.

Inter-borough conflicts - Hackney-Tottenham, for example, or Brixton-Peckham - have existed for decades.

The postcode wars saw these scaled down to a single postcode or estate. The idea was simple: if you strayed outside your area, you might be chased, mugged or beaten.

The judge said the motive that underpinned their actions that evening would be regarded by all right-thinking people as both "perverse and abhorrent".

The murder was as "brutal and callous" as it was "random and pointless," he added.

Judge Mayo paid tribute to Anthony Adekola saying he was a "hard working, well-respected and much loved young man in the prime of his life".

Mr Adekola was popular with both customers and colleagues

Mr Adekola had left the Colindale branch of Marks & Spencer at 21:00 BST. CCTV footage shows him strolling home along Booth Road and, by chance, was present as eight males spilled from two taxis.

There was a brief conversation before Mr Adekola turned and ran. He was cornered in an alleyway and stabbed in his face, head, neck, arms, back, chest and ankle.

Forensic analysis showed the wounds were caused by different knives. The attackers then got in the waiting taxis and left.

Friends, family, colleagues and customers had previously described their devastation at the death of the "well-mannered and cheerful" young man.