Pair jailed for killing RAF cadet

Pic-Braeden Henry and Sean Obazee were sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday/wp/ebc

Crime reporter(wp/ebc):::

Two men convicted of shooting an RAF cadet dead as he sat on a wall after asking him where he came from have been jailed for life.

Abdul Mayanja was seen as an "easy target" when shot in east London in 2017, the Old Bailey heard.

Judge Nigel Lickey QC said the motive for the killing "may never be known".

Sean Obazee, 25, from North Kensington, and Braeden Henry, 25, from Silvertown, were jailed for a minimum of 30 and 31 years respectively for murder.

The court heard the 19-year-old former school head boy was giving friends a lift home on 25 August 2017 when a female passenger felt ill, prompting them to stop in Well Street, Stratford.

As Mr Mayanja and his friend sat on the wall, they were approached by the pair who asked "What ends you from?".

Mr Mayanja was then shot in the back from about 6.5ft (2m) away. He later died in hospital.Sentencing, the judge said: "He was an easy target, not someone who would resist or fight back.

"The actual reason for this senseless killing may never been known.

"To ask a man where he was from suggests some territorial rivalry.

"That might explain why he was shot - because he was somewhere he was not supposed to be."

Angry scenes

Both Obazee and Henry denied being present, but were placed at the scene by mobile phone data, the court heard.

During sentencing, Henry told the judge: "I'm innocent, mate," while Obazee sarcastically said: "Yeah, this is justice."

This prompted angry comments from the public gallery, directed chiefly at the judge, who cleared court 12 before later returning to pay tribute to the victim's family and the work of the police.