Drug-dealing teenager, 19, who stabbed rival to death days after dismembering jazz trumpeter, 53, and burying the body parts is jailed for minimum of 31 years
- Three men, including teen Emeka Dawuda-Wodu, were convicted of stabbing rival dealer Ebrima Cham and sentenced to life with a total of 90 years in prison
- Simon Emmons and Zimele Dube also convicted after they stabbed him to death
- Emmons, Dawuda-Wodu and two others have also been convicted over the dismemberment and disposal of the remains of jazz trumpeter William Algar
- Jayano Lucima and Marc Harding were each sentenced to three years and three months for perverting the course of justice over disposal of William Algar’s body
- No one convicted of murder of Mr Algar who was exploited by gang before death
Drug-dealer Emeka Dawuda-Wodu has been jailed for life after dismembering a jazz musician and burying the body parts before stabbing another man to death just days later
A teenager who stabbed a rival drug dealer to death days after dismembering a talented jazz musician was jailed for a minimum of 31 years today.
Trumpeter William Algar, 53, who played with punk legends The Damned, was killed in his home before being chopped up by 19-year-old Emeka Dawuda-Wodu.
The court heard Mr Algar was ‘cuckooed’ by the Dawuda-Wodu, 19, and his associates who were using his tiny flat as a base of operations for their drug dealing.
Mr Algar accepted them treating him as a ‘slave’ but objected when the dealers sadistically tortured his cat – and paid with his life. No one has been brought to justice for Mr Algar’s murder.
Dawuda-Wodu, and his accomplice Simon Emmons, 40, had considered dissolving the body in acid after watching it being attempted in the cult TV show Breaking Bad.
But the victim was hacked apart in his own bathtub before the duo were joined by Marc Harding and Jayano Lucima who helped dispose of his arms and legs in a shallow grave on a nature reserve.
The night after the body was dumped, Dawuda-Wodu, Emmons and Zimele Dube, 33, killed another dealer Ebrima Cham, 35, in front of his girlfriend at the victim’s Hounslow flat on December 19, 2019.
Dawuda-Wodu, and three others, carried out a third attack two weeks later on January 3, 2020, when Charlie Hirshman was stabbed in Barnes and left with life threatening injuries.
Mr Hirshman thought he was going to die and was so badly injured he cannot laugh, smile, or chew properly.
William Algar, 53, who was known as Blaise and had played with punk legends The Damned, was stabbed 20 times and chopped up in his bathtub in south-west London in December 2019
Some of the talented musician’s remains were discovered in his flat while others were buried in Hounslow Heath in January 2020, a court heard, but some of his remains were never recovered
Dawuda-Wodu was cleared of attempted murder but convicted of wounding with intent following a separate trial at Kingston Crown Court last month.
Dawuda-Wodu was convicted by an Old Bailey jury in May of murdering Mr Cham but cleared of Mr Algar’s murder. He earlier admitted perverting the course of justice by disposing of Mr Algar’s body.
Emmons, 45, was convicted of helping him dispose of the body of Mr Algar and the murder of Mr Cham.
Dube was convicted of murdering Mr Cham.
Dawuda-Wodu was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 31 before he can be considered for parole for what the judge described as ‘an explosion of violence.’
Emmons was jailed for life and a minimum of 31 and a half years.
Police forensics teams enter a tent at Mr Algar’s house in Nowell Road, Barnes, in January 2020
Police officer stands outside trumpeter William Algar’s house in Nowell Road, Barnes, in 2020
Who was involved and what have they been convicted of?
Emeka Dawuda-Wodu, 19, has been convicted of the murder of rival drug dealer Ebrima Cham, perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of William Algar’s remains and an unrelated charge of GBH with intent. He has been jailed for a minimum of 31 years.
Zimele Dube, 33, has been convicted of the murder of Ebrima Cham. He has been jailed for a minimum of 28 years.
Simon Emmons, 40, has been convicted of the murder of Ebrima Cham and perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of William Algar’s remains. He has been jailed for a minimum of 31 years.
Jayano Lucima, 19, has been convicted of perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of William Algar’s remains. He has been sentenced to three years and three months.
Marc Harding, 45, has been convicted of perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of William Algar’s remains. He has been sentenced to three years and three months.
Dube was locked up for life with a minimum of 28 years.
Marc Harding, 45, who helped dig the holes to bury Mr Algar’s limbs on Hounslow Heath, was jailed for three years and three months.
Jayano Lucima, 19, was convicted of helping to cover up the murder of Mr Algar by buying bleach and J-cloths and running errands.
He was also jailed for three years and three months.
Judge Wendy Joseph said the killings were a series of ‘terrible events’ in a ‘warped and destructive world.’
She added: ‘It is clear the five of you in your various ways lost sight of all right thinking and decency.’
The judge said Mr Algar had ‘lost almost everything other than his little library of books and a cat which he had adopted and cared for’.
One the dealers ‘enjoyed torturing the cat,’ Judge Joseph added.
‘Whilst Mr Algar was prepared to put up with almost anything on his own behalf, it may be that he would not tolerate this,’ the judge said.
‘It seems he finally found the courage to object and this, together with money he had failed to return to them, may be the reason that he was killed.’
The judge said: ‘No one has been brought to justice for that killing. The disrespect and cruelty with which his body was later treated beggars belief.
‘He was left to rot for weeks before efforts were made to remove his remains.’
The court heard Mr Algar was a brilliant trumpeter after taking up the instrument at the age of seven.
Zimele Dube (left) and Simon Emmons (right) have been jailed for a minimum of 28 years and 31 years respectively over their roles in the murder of Mr Cham and disposal of Mr Algar’s body
He studied at the London School of Music and was asked to join The Damned after playing in a number of rock bands.
Mr Algar, who was known as ‘Willy’ in the music world, played on the band’s hit single ‘Grimly Fiendish’ in 1985, but was in the line-up for less than a year.
As his chances of a successful career faded, he began using drugs and became mired in the shadowy world of heroin and cocaine supply where he was known as ‘Blaise’.
He allowed other dealers to use his tiny cluttered flat in Nowell Road, Barnes, as a den for their trade or ‘trap house’ and was treated as their slave.
Mr Algar, who was described by his family as a ‘gentle man’ had taken in a stray cat called Felix and was besotted by the animal, the court heard.
When he owed money for drugs, Dawuda-Wodu threatened to harm Felix, who later disappeared.
Mr Algar was so worried about the cat that he called the police in the days before he died and told of the threats being made against the pet.
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett told the court that according to key prosecution witness Philip Ross, Mr Algar had spoken ‘disrespectfully’ to Dawuda-Wodu.
Days after the trio disposed of Mr Algar’s body, drug-dealer Ebrima Cham, 35, nicknamed the ‘Brim Reaper’, was also killed in a frenzied attack at a flat in Hounslow, west London
‘He had told Blaise, “I’m not your bitch” or something…If you keep talking to me this way, if this keeps carrying on, I will kill your cat.
‘Mr Ross is under the impression that the argument had continued and he believes that he said that he had killed the cat.’
Mr Algar was stabbed to death in early December, but he was not reported missing until January 2 when he failed to visit his 93-year-old mother at Christmas.
Police say the exact circumstances of Mr Algar’s death are not known, but he was last seen alive on December 1, 2019, cycling to a cashpoint in Barnes.
When police searched the flat they found his head and torso wrapped in bin bags, old clothes, towels and knotted sheets in the blood spattered living room.
His head and arms were later recovered from Hounslow Heath by police dogs after Emmonds and the teenager had taken a cab there with the limbs in a bulging suitcase.
Parts of his body have never been recovered.
A pathologist found Mr Algar had no defensive injuries and he may have been killed when he was asleep face down, or incapacitated.
Jayano Lucima, 19, (right) and Marc Harding, 45, (left) were each sentenced to three years, three months for perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of Mr Algar’s body
Traces of drugs including cocaine and morphine were found in his bloodstream.
By the time Dawuda-Wodu was arrested he had been involved in the murder of Mr Cham on December 19, 2019.
Ebrima Cham, known as Brim, had developed a reputation for robbing other drug dealers and it is believed that one of these robberies led him into confrontation with Zimele Dube.
Dube ran his own drugs line and boasted in court of drinking bottles of champagne and enjoying holidays around the world on the profits.
On the day of the murder, Cham was staying at a flat in Grove Road, Hounslow. After they found out he was at the address, Dube, Emmons and Dawuda-Woda got in contact with each other by phone and all three set off to the flat in a car that was being driven by a friend.
Police praise bravery of prosecution witnesses
A senior Met Police officer has praised the bravery and courage of the witnesses who came forward to testify against the violent drug gang.
DCI Vicky Tunstall said: ‘I would personally like to thank all those witnesses who gave evidence about the murders and subsequent confessions.
‘They knew how violent this gang were and the defendants’ readiness to use the most extreme violence.
‘Despite this, these witnesses still had the courage to come forward and tell the court what had happened.
‘Some of the witnesses were drug takers, but they attended court and gave evidence.
‘Justice often depends on the bravery of such people and I applaud their actions.
‘The sentences passed down by the courts – especially in relation to the murder of Brim Cham – properly reflect the danger these men represent to society and the public can feel confident they will be off the streets for a very long time.
‘I would like to praise the family of Brim Cham and the dignity they showed throughout these very difficult proceedings.’
At around 11:15am all three went to the flat door and when no one answered they broke the door down and rushed in.
Ebrima was found a short while later lying on the kitchen floor, he had been repeatedly stabbed.
Meanwhile the three killers had returned to the car and were driven from the scene.
Police and paramedics attended the stabbing, but despite their efforts Ebrima was pronounced dead.
At a post mortem examination on Saturday, 21 December it was discovered that Ebrima had been stabbed 11 times, but it was a deep wound to his chest that proved fatal.
Dawuda-Wodu also stabbed another victim, who thought he was going to die in the attack, the court was told.
He was warned by prison authorities that his phone calls would be taped – but he was recorded telling his mother to move a zombie knife from the top of his wardrobe.
Dawuda-Wodu, Emmons, Lucima and Dube each denied the extent of their involvement throughout a seven-week trial at the Old Bailey.
Giving evidence, Dawuda-Wodu said that he had no idea Mr Algar was dead until Emmons told him and asked him to help get rid of the body.
‘I thought he was joking,’ the teenager said.
He said he only agreed to help after his mother was threatened and claimed the sight of Emmons dismembering the victim left him physically sick.
In a ‘cut throat’ defence Emmons claimed he had nothing to do with dismembering Mr Algar’s body or murdering Mr Cham.
He said when he got in a taxi with the teenager and 44-year-old Marc Harding, he had no idea the suitcase they were carrying was stuffed with Mr Algar’s limbs.
Emmons said he ‘couldn’t remember’ why he was in the taxi that transported them to the shallow grave on Hounslow Heath.
Dube and Dawuda-Wodu blamed Emmons for the murder of Mr Cham and claimed they were at the flat but did not see the fatal struggle.
Dawuda-Wodu claimed Emmons said afterwards: ‘It was me or him.’
Dawuda-Wodu, of no fixed address, denied but was convicted of Mr Cham’s murder.
He was cleared of Mr Algar’s murder but admitted perverting the course of justice by disposing of Mr Algar’s body.
Emmons, of no fixed address, denied but was convicted of perverting the course of justice and murdering Mr Cham.
Dube, of Palace Arts Way, Wembley, also denied and was convicted of murdering Mr Cham.
Lucima, of The Drive, Isleworth, denied and was convicted of perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of Mr Algar’s body.
Harding, of The Drive, Isleworth, admitted perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of Mr Algar’s body.
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