A young music producer was stabbed to death after he got caught in the middle of a “poisonous” gang feud, a court has heard.
Dean Pascal-Modeste, 21, was the victim of the dispute between the B Side gang and their rival Splash in south-east London, the Old Bailey was told.
Young men associated with B Side allegedly armed themselves with guns and knives and chased Mr Pascal-Modeste down like a “pack of wolves”.
They hacked him to death in the street, not because of who he was, but who he was with, jurors heard.
Corey Donaldson, 18, Alex Scott, 18, Uzoeme Emeofa, 19, and Devone Pusey, 20, are on trial accused of the killing.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said the victim had nothing to do with gangs and only wanted to make a name for himself in the music business.
On the afternoon of February 24, he travelled from his home in Barking to Grove Park, south-east London, with his friends Gabriel Tavarez and Keanu Noble. They planned to record a music video to post on YouTube.
As Mr Pascal-Modeste sat on a wall with Mr Noble, two mopeds appeared “from nowhere”, and one of the riders produced a gun and pointed it at them, the court heard.
The pair ran away and another group of youths appeared on foot and chased after them armed with weapons, jurors were told.
Mr Aylett said all the youths were working together to orchestrate an “ambush on two fronts”.
One witness described the attackers as “running like a pack of wolves”.
The prosecutor said: “Dean was hunted down and surrounded. The group of youths crowded around him and attacked him.
“In the course of a pitiless attack, Dean sustained 14 separate stab wounds.”
Mr Pascal-Modeste was left bleeding to death on the ground.
Mr Aylett told jurors the attack in broad daylight was “as outrageous as it was brazen” and was witnessed by parents collecting their children from school.
He said: “The prosecution suggest this was not a spontaneous eruption of violence brought on by a dirty look or a word spoken out of place.
“Instead, this was a co-ordinated attack in which a number of those involved were armed either with guns or knives.”
Witnesses had described seeing two guns and police recovered four knives that could be linked with the killing, he said.
The “savage attack” bore all the hallmarks of gang-related violence, Mr Aylett said.
“The prosecution allege that the murder of Dean Pascal-Modeste has its roots in a poisonous feud between the Splash gang and the B Side gang.
“Dean was stabbed to death not for who he was or for anything that he had done, instead, he was murdered for the company that he kept.”
Both the men he had been with that day were linked to the Splash gang while the defendants were allegedly associated with B Side.
Donaldson, of Deptford, and Scott, of Lewisham, Emeofa, of Catford and Pusey, also of Catford, deny murder.
Two other suspects had fled to the country to America and Jamaica, the court heard.
The trial continues.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here