Two Drill Rappers Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murdering 16-Year-Old Boy

Two drill rap­pers have been impris­oned for life for stab­bing a 16-year-old boy to death in Lon­don before flee­ing to Kenya. Tariq Mon­teiro, 23, and Siyad Mohamud, 24, were involved in the attack on Alex Smith who was tar­get­ed due to gang rival­ries on August 12, 2019. The two men chased the vic­tim in the street before stab­bing him mul­ti­ple times in a fatal assault. After the crime, they post­ed a video online boast­ing of their act before catch­ing a flight to Kenya where they were arrest­ed last year.

Mon­teiro and Mohamud were part of the Agar Grove gang, which had been in con­flict with the Cum­bo gang that Alex Smith belonged to. The two groups had been involved in vio­lence against each oth­er for sev­er­al months. Mon­teiro, who raps under the name Sus­pect, was armed with a machete dur­ing the attack and wore a bul­let­proof vest. Mohamud, who goes by the name Swavey, was present in sup­port and was equal­ly respon­si­ble for the murder.

The two rap­pers were found guilty of mur­der by a jury at the Old Bai­ley Crown Court after a five-week tri­al. They refused to appear for their sen­tenc­ing hear­ing. Mon­teiro was jailed for life with a min­i­mum term of 24 years. Mohamud received the same sen­tence with a min­i­mum term of 23 years.