Temidayo Awe, a Coventry University student who played a part in the Saul Murray honeytrap killing in Luton has been convicted of the manslaughter of a dad-of-six over a Rolex watch which turned out to be a fake.
The third year undergraduate played a part in the honey trap that led to 33-year-old Saul Murray dying of stab wounds outside his flat in New Town Street in the early hours of February 27, 2022.
Awe, together with three others, plotted to drug and rob Murray after seeing images of him on Instagram wearing Rolex watches. Detectives identified 31-year-old Ikem Affia as the main suspect responsible for Mr Murray’s death after looking at hours of CCTV footage.
Police investigating the murder found a key piece of evidence in the case and it was a Moncler coat costing more than £1,300 which Affia was wearing at the time of the planned attack on Mr Murray.
Less than 300 of these coats were available in the UK at the time, with just 69 being sold online. One of the rare coats had been sold to Affia’s partner and was delivered to his home address the previous year.
Two other people, Cleon Brown, 29, and, Surpreet Dhillon, 36, were also arrested and have now been sentenced for their involvement in the killing.
Luton Crown Court heard that Dhillon had initially contacted Mr Murray over Instagram before she and Awe were captured on CCTV entering his flat at around 11.40pm the night before he was found.
Awe was then seen leaving shortly before 2.30am, while Dhillon propped the communal door open with a broom, so Awe was able to later return with the two men, one of whom, Affia, was carrying a large knife.
The two women had used a sedative on Mr Murray, who was seen running towards the door before he lost consciousness and collapsed.
CCTV footage taken from a local fast food restaurant showed Brown and Affia together. In it, Affia is wearing the same coat that was seen on the footage from Mr Murray’s flat.
Phone data also placed Brown at the scene after he had contacted Dhillon. While additional footage confirmed that a Mercedes Benz, which Brown had hired, was seen acting suspiciously in the vicinity of the flat.
Additional footage confirmed that a Mercedes Benz, which was seen acting suspiciously in the vicinity of Mr Murray’s flat, had been hired by Brown.
Brown was also caught CCTV using a vacuum cleaner to clean the Mercedes at a petrol station in London after the offence had taken place. He is wearing the same jogging bottoms as in the CCTV from Mr Murray’s flat.
Judge Michael Simon told the sentencing hearing at Luton Crown Court that it was a “senseless” conspiracy to rob. As a result of the trial, the four were given the following sentences:
“Ikem Affia, 31, of Shore Place, London was sentenced to life in prison for murder and will have to serve a minimum of 25 years. He was also sentenced to 14 years for conspiracy to commit robbery to run concurrently.
“Cleon Brown, 29, of King Edwards Road, South Hackney was sentenced to 11 years for manslaughter and nine years for conspiracy to commit robbery to run concurrently; a total of 11 years.
“Surpreet Dhillon, 36, of Carnarvon Road, London was sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter and 10 years for conspiracy to commit robbery to run concurrently; a total of 10 years.
“Temidayo Awe, 21, of Saunders Street, Gillingham was sentenced to seven years for manslaughter and six years for conspiracy to commit robbery to run concurrently; a total of seven years.”
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