Vigilante Trio Who Beat Mentally-ill Man To Death Are Jailed

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Three vigilantes who beat up a mentally-ill man causing his death after they suspected him of mugging their grandmother were jailed for a total of 26 years.

Leon Dixon, 37, his half-brother Mason Adrien-Dixon, 22, and friend Daniel Murphy, 20, punched, kicked and stamped on the head of Reginald Ofei-Berko, 25, after spotting him in the street.

The Dixons' cousin, Franklin McDonald, who is still wanted by police, also threw a bicycle on top of Mr Ofei-Berko during the assault in Walworth, southeast London.











On 28 June last year Leon Dixon's (left) grandmother, u20 ghana squad 81,  was robbed of a gold chain. Dixon believed the culprit was Reginald Ofei-Berko (right) was to blame and attacked him in the street

Mr Ofei-Berko suffered only minor injuries but is believed to have died of a heart attack.

At the time of the killing Leon Dixon was still on licence for an armed robbery on a travel agents in 2002.

He was sentenced to an extended sentence of ten years plus another five years. Adrien-Dixon was jailed for eight years and Murphy was jailed for eight years and eight weeks.

On 28 June last year Leon Dixon's 81-year-old grandmother was robbed of a gold chain by a tall black man with braided hair in Walworth Road. 

Judge Stephen Kramer QC said: 'The cause of this attack was the robbery of the grandmother of Leon Dixon and Mason Adrien-Dixon of a gold chain. Rightly or wrongly they believed that the deceased was the robber.











Leon Dixon, 37, his half brother Mason Adrien-Dixon (left) and friend Daniel Murphy (right) punched, kicked and stamped on the head of their victim after spotting him in Walworth, southeast London

'They decided the u20 ghana vs nigeria today time had come to take the law into their own hands.'

The judge told Leon Dixon: 'Your intention was to put right the hurt suffered by your grandmother.

'You did not intend to cause really serious harm but I cannot lose sight of the fact a life was lost as a result of your actions.'

John Paul Gillespie, 43, was jailed for 12 months for his involvement in planning the attack.




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Mother-of-three Dipa Modhwadia, 36, who drove her partner Leon Dixon to and from the scene, was jailed for six months.

The victim's grandmother Margaret Berko said in an impact statement that she was 'still in deep shock'.

She said: 'How could some persons cruelly beat my only grandchild to death? His sudden violent departure has lashed the family like a storm.

'To those who planned and calculated to violently attack him, those who left him to die, I would say you have left me and the family devastated.




John Paul Gillespie (pictured) was jailed for 12 months for ghana u20 world cup winners squad his involvement in planning the attack

'He had so much to live for if he had survived.'

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said the Dixons' grandmother reported her mugging on Jun 28, 2016 to police but a culprit was never found. 

He added: 'Leon Dixon, his half brother and their cousin Franklin McDonald believed Mr Ofei-Berko was responsible for the robbery.'

Two months later on August 25, McDonald spotted the victim by chance in the street in Walworth.

He contacted his cousins, who recruited Murphy, Gillespie and Dipa to help carry out surveillance.

Mr Aylett said: 'That culminated in getting the victim down a side road where he was attacked.

'Punches and kicks were thrown and on one occasion the victim was stamped on and a bicycle was thrown at his lower limbs. It was witnessed by two children.'

Mr Ofei-Berko, who was living in a hostel for people with mental health problems in Southwark, was found lying unconscious on the pavement outside a block of flats on Penrose Street at around 3.05pm. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.




Mother-of-three Dipa Modhwadia (pictured), 36, who drove her partner Leon Dixon to and from the scene, was jailed for six months

The post-mortem found no evidence of brain injury or obvious cause of death.

Mr Aylett said: 'Despite the apparent severity of the attack the only injuries identified were four small abrasions to the face, bruising to the left shoulder and a fracture to a fragile bone in the left eye socket.'

The prosecutor said that 'a process of elimination' led to a pathologist concluding that the victim had suffered a fatal heart attack as a result of concussive type trauma to the head.

Mr Aylett said: 'This is not a case where it can be said there was an intention to kill.




Mr Ofei-Berko (pictured) was living in a hostel for people with mental health problems in Southwark and was found lying unconscious on the pavement outside a block of flats

'There must have involved an intention to cause serious harm, but that is not the same as really serious harm.'

Dixon was arrested a week later in Margate after being linked to evidence left at the scene.

His barrister Michael Holland QC said Dixon now accepted 'he did not have a safe basis for assuming' Mr Ofei-Berko was the robber.

The court heard Leon Dixon has previous convictions for robbery, burglary, theft, assault, criminal damage and drugs offences.

In 2004 he was jailed for 15 years, later reduced on appeal to 11 years with five years extended licence, for a raid on a travel agents in Camberwell. Following his arrest for the attack on Mr Ofei-Berko he returned to prison.

Adrien-Dixon has previous convictions for robbery and blackmail, Murphy for robbery, theft and breach of ASBOs, ghana u20 women Gillespie for assaulting a police officer and possessing a knife, and Dipa for obtaining property by deception.

Leon Dixon, of Crawley, West Sussex, Daniel Murphy, of Bermondsey and Adrien-Dixon, of Kennington, all admitted manslaughter. Murphy also admitted breaching an earlier suspended prison sentence.

John Paul Gillespie, of Kennington, admitted conspiracy to cause affray.

Dipa, of Bermondsey, admitted assisting an offender.

All five were originally charged with murder but their pleas to lesser offences were accepted by the prosecution last month. 


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