Burglars guilty of Hounslow cannabis factory break-in murder

Jason Sebran and Shaddai Smith will be sentenced on Thursday

Two burglars have been found guilty of murder after attempting to steal £100,000 worth of drugs from a cannabis factory in west London.

Shaddai Smith and Jason Sebran climbed up a ladder and through a window to gain entry to a house in Hounslow which contained 200 cannabis plants, the Old Bailey heard.

The pair were then confronted by 21-year-old Renato Geci, who was inside.

After a struggle, Mr Geci was stabbed to death by Smith and Sebran.

The jury heard the house in Granville Avenue had been the base of a sophisticated operation to cultivate 200 cannabis plants with a value of £95,000, when Smith, 32, and Sebran, 38, broke into the property on 22 March 2021.

The defendants climbed through the bathroom window only to find it occupied by Mr Geci and his brother 29-year-old Vilson Geci, the court heard.

Renato Geci was stabbed to death by Smith and Sebran

The older sibling went to see what was going on and was confronted by the intruders, only to be sprayed in the face with what he believed was acid.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC told jurors a violent struggle took place with Smith grabbing a knife from the kitchen and Sebran arming himself with a screwdriver.

Mr Aylett said: "Renato was stabbed to death with the knife as well as being stabbed with the screwdriver.

"As for Vilson, he was stabbed in the thigh with the knife and he also sustained a significant number of other injuries, albeit that most of them were fairly superficial."

Smith and Sebran fled through a window. The defendants pleaded guilty to burglary but said they believed the premises to be unoccupied at the time.

They jury found them guilty of murder and wounding with intent.

'Driven by greed'

Det Insp Garth Hall, from the Met Police, said: "Smith and Sebran's claims that they believed the house they were entering was empty and that their intention was only to steal cannabis plants have been disproved by the jury.

"They had ample opportunity to leave the property when they found Renato and another man inside, however they were driven by greed and the profit they saw they could make from stealing the cannabis plants.

"They decided to attack Renato, using lethal force as they overpowered him, and causing multiple injuries to their second victim before fleeing empty-handed."

Smith, from Firwood Lane, Romford, and Sebran, from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, will be sentenced on Thursday.

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