A TEENAGER was stabbed to death in Basingstoke as a result of a turf war between two rival drug networks, a court has heard. Judge Martin Spencer told Winchester Crown Court on Friday that 18-year-old Taylor Williams was killed after the head of a rival county lines drug gang could not tolerate the competition . The Bromley teenager died on his way to hospital on August 31, 2019, after a stabbing at Kingfisher House on Shooters Way. Sentencing Mr Williams s killer, Olamide Soyege, last week, Judge Spencer said that the 29-year-old intended to kill the teenager. The court had previously been told that Mr Williams had travelled to Basingstoke along with two associates on August 31 to set up shop in the town on behalf of the Ray network.
The group s key player, Jeffrey Zani, was convicted for drugs trafficking in Oxford in 2018 and bailed to a housing association property in Popley. However, the court heard that he still had drug debts and so continued dealing in Basingstoke.
Tensions between rivals The cartel between the four lines was formed in order to minimise street violence, but that hasn t stopped there being violence in the past. The most high-profile was the stabbing of Taylor Williams in August 2019. Sentencing Soyege after his murder conviction, Judge Martin Spencer said: [A witness] described you as an enforcer. It was established that two other lines were attempting to sell drugs in Basingstoke.
Taylor Williams, 18, was stabbed in the heart at a flat in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in August 2019. Olamide Soyege, 29, of Dagenham, east London, was previously convicted at Winchester Crown Court of murder, robbery and conspiracy to rob. Co-defendant Paige Taylor, 24, was jailed for seven years for the robbery offences and supplying Class A drugs. During the trial, the jury was told that Williams was part of a London-based county lines drug network, and had been staying at a flat in Shooters Way, Basingstoke, when rivals from another drug network turned up and tried to rob him and his associates. The judge, Mr Justice Spencer, said Soyege was an enforcer for a London-based gang and was sent on 31 August to eliminate competition from two rival drugs groups in Basingstoke.
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image captionMore than 1,000 people attended Taylor Williams funeral, the judge said
A drugs gang enforcer has been jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years for killing a teenager from a rival gang.
Taylor Williams, 18, was stabbed in the heart at a flat in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in August 2019.
Olamide Soyege, 29, of Dagenham, east London, was previously convicted at Winchester Crown Court of murder, robbery and conspiracy to rob.
Co-defendant Paige Taylor, 24, was jailed for seven years for the robbery offences and supplying Class A drugs.
image copyrightHampshire Constabulary
image captionOlamide Soyege and Paige Taylor were jailed at Winchester Crown Court
The short-stay units will be available to adults of all ages to develop their skills and strengths so that they can return to their own homes. The long-stay units will be offered to people who have care requirements but are able to live independently. Care and support will be on site 24 hours a day, there will also be opportunities for the local community to access day activities and surgeries. The homes are due to be finished by August 2021 and will be known as Ty Glas y Dorlan, the Welsh translation for Kingfisher House.
The Kingfisher House supported housing scheme under construction in Thornhill, Cwmbran. Picture: Bron Afon.