A gang of men who attacked a pair of brothers have all been convicted at the Old Bailey

A gang of men who attacked a pair of brothers, leading to the death of one and life changing injuries for the other, have all been convicted at the Old Bailey. The nine week trial saw seven defendants stand accused of various offences relating to the murder of 35-year-old Edmond Jonuzi (also known as Edmond Preci) and the assault on his brother Eraldi Preci in Green Lanes, near Turnpike Lane, Haringey on 9 June, 2018. Those convicted on Tuesday, 28 May were as follows: Bilal Mumin, 20 of Finchley Road, NW3 was found guilty of murder, violent disorder, and possession of an offensive weapon. Saydomar Mohammed, 21 of Ranelagh Road, Tottenham, London N17, was found guilty of violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon. Five other men were all found guilty of one count each of violent disorder. They were: Tenzin Massiah, 23 of Strode Road, Tottenham, N17 Abdul Mohamed, 22 of Tottenhall Road, Enfield, N13 Ismail Mohammed, 21 of Chichester Road, Enfield, N9 Rayan Saleh, 24 of no fixed abode. Eldar Iliazi, 21 of Alexandra Park Road, Wood Green, N22. Sentencing will take place on a future date to be announced. Detective Inspector Garry Moncrieff, from the Met’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: “I am pleased that all seven men we charged with a range of offences relating to the killing of Edmond, and injuries caused to Eraldi, have now been found responsible for the parts they played. “Edmond and his brother were overwhelmed during the altercation by a large group of men in a cowardly and callous assault, which led to his family grieving the loss of one son and coping with the serious injuries caused to another. “While nothing can make up to the Preci family for the terrible crime that has occurred, I hope that the convictions today will bring a sense of closure that these men have now been successfully brought to justice. The murder investigation was launched after police were called to reports of a seriously injured man located near Green Lanes, N15 at 9.47pm on Saturday, 9 June 2018. When officers and London’s Air Ambulance arrived, they found Edmond lying with stab injuries near the entrance to Ducketts Common, a small community park. Despite their best efforts, sadly Edmond, 35, from Albania, was pronounced dead at the scene at 10.39pm A subsequent post mortem examination found the cause of death was a stab wound through the heart. His brother Eraldi managed to get himself to the hospital despite having sustained a serious head injury. Once there his condition rapidly deteriorated and he was rushed to a major trauma unit diagnosed with a bleed on the brain and a fractured skull – which required an urgent operation that doctors deemed to be life-saving. He still has trouble now, nearly a year on, with headaches and concentration. Police were able to gather a good picture of the events leading up to the attack from evidence they obtained, including good quality CCTV which covered the area where the brothers encountered their assailants. On the night in question, Edmond and Eraldi had enjoyed dinner with two male cousins when CCTV captured them walking down Wood Green High Road in the direction of Duckett’s Common. In contrast the defendants had spent the day hanging around the Duckett’s Common area, drinking, fighting and engaged in acts of anti-social behavior. On the CCTV footage Edmond was seen to have a short verbal exchange with a man sitting on a pedal bike on the pavement. They then walked on. A few minutes later, the brothers entered a park, along with the group, and encountered the same man sitting on a bench. He said something provocative as the brothers passed, which Eraldi later explained to police was threatening, with a knife also being intimated. The brothers acted in self-defence as an altercation began, quickly escalating into a disproportionately one-sided attack as the pair were set upon by the larger group of men, many of whom rushed to join the incident from nearby basketball courts. This group were seen by a number of witnesses to commit a sustained assault involving punching, kicking and hitting with weapons. All members of the attackers’ group fled the scene, before police arrived, abandoning the two brothers, with Edmond fatally wounded. CCTV played in court later showed that the group had been involved in other assault and disorder incidents earlier that night. Some had active Criminal Behaviour (CBO) and Anti Social Behaviour Orders put in place to stop them congregating in the Duckett’s Common area – and barring some from associating with others. Police made a deliberate decision to pursue seven of the group – those arrested throughout the months after the attack and subsequently charged – as those individuals who could be shown to have used unlawful violence. Bilal Mumin was seen to be wielding a knife and stabbing at Edmond several times in the first part of the attack before the remainder moved out of range of the cameras – by being at the location and associating with others present he was breaking the terms of a CBO order handed to him in December 2016 and had been convicted of breaching it on at least seven previous occasions. Eraldi explained to officers that they had been attacked after his brother Edmond said no in response to an offer from two of the men to buy drugs. During the course of the trial evidence was presented that conveyed a picture of the attackers as a group of young men all well known to each other, habitually involved in drug dealing and accustomed to regarding the Duckett’s Common area as streets they felt they ‘owned.’ It was this territorial attitude shared by all the young men in the attackers group, the prosecution argued, that led to a fight developing into a violent and ultimately fatal incident. Two of the group were also known to have launched sudden, apparently unprovoked attacks in the hours prior to the major assault on the brothers. In the first they attacked another youth standing near them outside a betting shop. The victim was hit with a bottle, before being manhandled to the ground, where the duo punch and kick him, trying to stamp on his head. This occurred in full view of members of the public and CCTV cameras. The youth managed to get away eventually and ran from the scene. In the second prior incident, which occurred on the basketball courts in the park, there was an altercation involving the same two men subjecting a different youth to another bout of casual violence, punching and kicking, with one of the pair even putting his hands round the throat of one victim. Police were called, but the youth said the attack was just ‘play-fighting.’ Around an hour and twenty minutes later, the Preci brothers had their encounter with the group in the same park. During the post-mortem carried out later, Edmond was found to have 19 separate injuries on his body. The brothers’ devastated mother, Dava Preci, who was unable to travel from Albania for the trial, paid tribute to the ‘relentless work’ the detectives had put in to bring the case to trial. In a victim impact statement prepared for court, she detailed how the attack has torn apart her the life of her family for good: “On 9 June my world changed forever, leaving me so broken and empty inside. Edmond was well loved by everyone, full of life and with big dreams for the future. His life got cut short so brutally. “I am left to relive the images of the fear and pain my sons went through over and over again. I can no longer sleep in peace. “My son Eraldi not only lost his brother but is left traumatized by the violent attack on that dreadful day. My daughter Esmerina looked up to her elder brother for everything.”