Two men who found guilty earlier this year of fatally stabbing an Indian-origin man in west London’s Southall suburb, have been sentenced to a total of 40 years in jail.
The 48-year-old Balbir Johal was attacked in March and admitted to hospital with stab injuries. He died a short time later.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Homicide and Major Crime Command launched a murder investigation and recognized that Johal was caught up in an argument with the two men – Hassan Mohamed and Yassin Yussuf – on Marlborough Road, Southall, on March 19.
According to a Daily Mail report on Tuesday, Mohamed and Yussuf were drug dealers and they killed their rival Johal after catching him selling crack cocaine and heroin on their patch.
The two men were charged with the murder. During a trial at an Old Bailey court on Tuesday, Mohamed was found guilty of Johal’s murder. He was imprisoned for 26 years and was told that he must serve the full term before being considered for release.
Yussuf was convicted of homicide and was sentenced to 14 years and an additional three years on license on release in the United Kingdom. He was told he ought to serve nine-and-a-half years in prison before being considered for release, the Metropolitan Police said in a release.
A CCTV video recording of the incident showed the two men in a white Mercedes pulling up next to Johal before getting out and speaking to him.
One then returned to the vehicle and armed himself with a knife from inside the car prior to chasing after Johal and fatally stabbing him.
Although he was driven to the hospital by a family associate and treated for his injuries, he could not be saved.
The next day, Mohamed and Yussuf were stopped by the police in the car that had been captured on CCTV and was under arrest and subsequently charged.
According to Duncan Penny, prosecution, Johal was killed “because he was dealing drugs in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
-Sowmya Sangam
