the times | Saturday May 28 2022 V2 25
News
Three youths behaved “like a pack of
wolves” when they killed the teenage
nephew of the former England footbal-
ler Shaun Wright-Phillips and then
“giggled and smirked” in the dock, the
victim’s mother said yesterday.
Rhamero West, 16, ran for his life
after the car in which he was trying to
escape his attackers crashed.
He was caught and stabbed four
times with a large combat knife near
Old Trafford in Manchester in Septem-
ber. One blow severed an artery in the
back of his leg.
Rhamero’s mother, Kelly Brown,
read a victim impact statement at
Manchester crown court as Ryan Cash-
in, 19, Marquis Richards, 17, and Gio-
vanni Lawrence, 20, were jailed for life
for murder.
“From start to finish during this trial
I have seen no remorse from any of the
defendants and what they have done to
our boy,” Brown said.
Addressing them, she added: “You
have been giggling and smirking in the
dock like it’s all a big joke game to you.
This is real.
“You will probably list your problems
to get a lighter sentence — autistic,
being young etc — the court hears it all.
However, you took our son’s life.
Murderers hunted
footballer’s nephew
‘like pack of wolves’
“Why did these individuals want to
kill our boy, chase him down and take
his life? We ask this question all the
time,” Brown said.
She added that her son was “just a
statistic” to the court.“To me this is real
life and my beautiful fun-loving, caring,
respectable boy who loved his family.
“These boys hunted my son down
like a pack of wolves, none of them con-
sidering the real impact on not only our
family but theirs alike.
“He was looking forward to his first
day at college and he enjoyed even just
his short time there. Rhamero was
going to see his friends after college and
he never made it home.”
Brown said that the killers’ families
would not suffer in the way that her’s
had.
She also said that Richards had made
a “cut-throat” gesture at her on the day
he was found guilty and told her her son
had been “smoked”.
She added: “So all I can say is thank
you for showing your true colours.”
CCTV footage from the pursuit of
Rhamero, a catering student, showed
Richards, who had been carrying the
knife, appear to run out of breath before
he “handed the weapon over to Cashin
who took hold of it like a baton in a relay
race”.
Rhamero was hiding in a front gar-John Simpson Crime Correspondent
Rhamero West was
murdered by,
clockwise from
above, Ryan
Cashin, Marquis
Richards and
Giovanni Lawrenceden when Cashin finally caught up with
him. He shouted: “Argh, got you”,
before hacking at him repeatedly.
All three were convicted last month
of the joint enterprise murder — Law-
rence had been driving the pursuit
vehicle. They had denied the charge.
Cashin and Lawrence received life
sentences, with minimum terms of 24
years and 21 years respectively before
they can be considered for parole. Rich-
ards will serve at least 18 years.
All three laughed and waved at the
public gallery as they were led from the
dock.Teenager
killed biker
in rap video
A teenager who stabbed a stuntman to
death as he performed for a music video
has been jailed for life after police found
his palm print on a supercar at the
scene. Brandon McNeil was told he will
serve a minimum of 24 years for the
attack on Shane Jerome, 23, who was
riding his motorbike in Brixton, south
London, on July 21 last year.
Jerome was part of a convoy of
vehicles, including green and red
Lamborghinis, featuring in a film for
the rap artist Chariffe Greaves, who
goes by the stage name Reefy, the Old
Bailey was told. McNeil, 19, ran up to
Jerome and stabbed him in the chest
with a large knife, piercing his heart.
Jerome, from Thornton Heath, south
London, was pronounced dead at the
scene.
McNeil fled from the scene and was
arrested on July 29 after being traced by
forensic evidence gathered where he
had placed his palm on a Lamborghini.
Sentencing McNeil, Judge Sarah
Munro said he was involved with the
local “7” or “L” gang and “must” have
believed those involved in the video
were linked with rivals. She said: “You
have made recordings in which you
have recorded rap lyrics glorifying the
carrying of knives and the use of them
to kill your rivals.” One was uploaded
days before the murder.
Rajiv Menon, in mitigation, said that
McNeil had been the victim of human
trafficking at a young age.MEN MEDIA