Last man convicted of killing Imani Allaway-Muir, 22, in Islington mistaken identity

James Nicholson, 36, of no fixed address, was convicted at the Old Bailey Friday to a total of 13 years in prison manslaughterinvolved in the supply of class A drugs and involved in the supply of class B drugs.

He was the last of a group of men to be convicted for killing 22-year-old Imani Allaway-Muir, who was in the “wrong place at the wrong time” when he was shot dead.

Demetrios Kyriacou, 35, of Liverpool Road, Islingtonwas sentenced to life on 25 November to a minimum of 31 years at the Old Bailey having previously been found guilty of murder.

Nathaniel Reece, 41, of Southgate Road, Islington – who fired the gun – was also sentenced to life after pleading guilty to murder. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 33 years and two months.

Matthew Hardy, 36, of Six Acres Estate, Islington was jailed for seven and a half years and Darren Dredge, 41, eight and a half for the manslaughter of Imani, having been found not guilty of murder.

Hardy received an additional 18 months in prison for conspiracy to supply Class B drugs.

After the trial, Kyriacou was indicted and found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs and possession of criminal property, and Dredge on conspiracy to supply class B drugs and possession of criminal property. They were also sentenced today for these offenses, with concurrent terms pending.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “Imani was a young man with his whole life ahead of him, but by simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time he was tragically killed in a horrific act of violence that took place in broad daylight just meters away from a children’s playground and a football field that was filled with children.

“Kyriacou had refused police assistance after the robbery and decided to take matters into his own hands by recruiting his friends to join his deadly revenge plot. The joint actions of these men resulted in the execution of Imani, who paid with his life for a robbery in which he was not involved.”

In a statement read to the court during sentencing, Imani’s mother Keetha described her “unimaginable” pain over the loss of her son.

“Imani was the ‘glue’ for our family and loved by so many,” she said. “The whole family is so damaged by Imani’s death.

“A mother should never bury their son. I carry so many emotions with me that I didn’t even think it was possible to feel. Even smiling and just breathing hurts most days.

“4th of July will haunt me for the rest of my life. I try my best not to revisit that day, but every time I close my eyes, all I see is my son’s lifeless body covered in blood being processed by the emergency services.

“I couldn’t hold or comfort him when he took his last breath. The worst pain I’ve ever endured was not being able to kiss him, hold his hand, or reassure him I’m there.

“The nature of my son’s murder feels 100 times worse because he was an innocent young man who went to the Westbourne estate not knowing what the robbery had taken place and what would happen to him.

“It hurts me to think how scared Imani was when he saw the defendants appear with a gun and then shot him.

“Imani will be forever missed, loved and remembered and our hearts will be broken forever until we are back with our precious Imani.”

The court heard that Kyriacou was robbed by four unknown men on Carville Street, Finsbury Park shortly after 12:50 a.m. on July 4, 2020. Kyriacou suffered a head injury and his Rolex watch, cash and iPhone were stolen. The suspects drove off in a black BMW.

Officers were on scene and spoke to Kyriacou who was with his blue Range Rover. He said he thought the suspects had a knife on them and he didn’t know them, but he didn’t want to discuss it further.

After the robbery, arrangements were made for the defendants to meet at Hardy’s home address on Six Acres Estate in Islington, where Kyriacou was living at the time.

In the flat, the defendants found Kyriacou’s stolen property using the ‘find my iPhone’ app.

Once they got the location, they drove to the area and surrounded it. A loaded firearm was also found en route.

Kyriacou and Reece were the last to arrive in the area shortly before 3:20 p.m. They got out of Kyriacou’s blue Range Rover at Faraday Close and drove into an alley where there was a group of people and the stolen property.

Seconds later, Reece shot Imani multiple times on Roman Way, Islington. They then raced back to the Range Rover and the vehicles, which had been taking people to the crime scene from the Six Acres Estate rendezvous, left the area as quickly as possible. Nicholson later retrieved Reece’s gun and disposed of it. It was not found.

Police, the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance were on the scene and found Imani lying on the ground in a children’s playground about 20 yards from the scene of the shooting.

He was unconscious but breathing, but despite the best efforts of emergency services, Imani was sadly pronounced dead shortly before 3:50pm, about half an hour after he was shot.

An autopsy later revealed that he had four gunshot wounds to his body.

Officers searched the shooting area and found 14 shell casings, an iPhone, two Nokia mobile phones and a broken SIM card. The phones and SIM card belonged to Kyriacou and were part of the stolen property during the previous robbery.

A black BMW was recovered by police at the scene, the same one used by the suspects in the earlier robbery.

However, detectives determined that Imani was not involved in the Kyriacou robbery.

Tragically, he had arrived at the location where the stolen property was located shortly before Kyriacou and Reece appeared.

When Reece opened fire, Imani was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The court heard that while it was Reece who fired the firearm and took Imani’s life, the other defendants were all jointly responsible for his death, knowingly assisting and encouraging the commission of the crime in their various ways.

Detectives proved the defendants’ involvement by gathering CCTV, cell phone records and ANPR and speaking to people who witnessed the shocking attack.

Kyriacou, Reece, Hardy and Dredge were all arrested shortly after the murder in July 2020, while Nicholson was arrested in February 2021, before being charged with murder.

In addition to the murder conviction, Kyriacou was also sentenced to 10 and a half years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, three and a half years for conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, and three years nine months for possession of criminal property. All sentences run concurrently with his life sentence.

Det Ch Insp John said: “We were determined to bring Imani’s killers to justice and my team worked tirelessly behind the scenes to collect overwhelming evidence to convict the five defendants. These men will now each be behind bars for a long period of time for their cold and heartless actions.

“There is never an excuse for violence, especially violence involving an illegal firearm, and everyone at the Met remains committed to tackling violence in all its forms and removing dangerous weapons, and those who carry them, from the streets of London .”