Wednesday, April 13, 2022 – Two more men and a teenage boy are now facing life sentences after being found guilty of murdering ex-England footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips’ nephew under the joint enterprise law.
Rhamero West, a nephew of ex-England and Manchester City star footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips, died after being knifed a number of times in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, on September 9 last year.
Ryan Cashin, 19, who stabbed Rhamero in the legs on Norton Street, was found guilty of murder at Manchester Crown Court last week.
Now a jury has also convicted Giovanni Lawrence, 20, and a 17-year-old boy, who can’t be named for legal reasons, of murder under joint enterprise law.
Prosecutors did not allege that the pair attacked Rhamero, but said the 17-year-old had run at Rhamero with a knife prior to the killing, and claimed Lawrence drove a stolen BMW which pursued the victim.
Joint enterprise law allows those deemed to have ‘assisted or encouraged’ an offence to be convicted.
Xavaiour Wynter, 18, alleged to be the driver of a second stolen BMW in pursuit of Rhamero, was found not guilty and discharged from the dock.
The verdicts came after a month-long trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Cashin was found guilty on Friday, and jurors convicted Lawrence and the 17-year-old boy by a majority verdict yesterday afternoon.
There were emotional scenes in the public gallery as the verdicts were announced.
Prosecutors are yet to figure out the motive for the brutal killing but said Rhamero was relentlessly hunted down before being murdered.
Rhamero himself was driving another stolen BMW and was with friends when he was spotted by his assailants on Princess Parkway at around 5.45pm on September 9 last year.
The 17-year-old defendant got out of one of the two chasing BMWs while Rhamero’s car was stationary in traffic, and started attacking the car with a ‘large knife’. The helpless victim tried to get away, driving too fast before crashing into another car and then plowing into a tree.
He and his friends got out of the damaged car and ran. The 17-year-old defendant chased Rhamero armed with a knife, the jury heard.
Cashin, of Nancy Street, Hulme, joined the chase and took the weapon from the 17-year-old before stabbing Rhamero in the legs in a front garden on Norton Street.
The killer is believed to have shouted ‘arr, got you!’, as a neighbour screamed at him to stop. Rhamero died in hospital that evening.
Prosecutors alleged that Lawrence and Mr Wynter were the drivers of two stolen BMWs which had pursued Rhamero through the streets, pointing to mobile phone cell site date and DNA evidence.
They claimed that the four defendants then regrouped in a taxi hours after the killing.
At trial, the 17-year-old admitted he had pursued Rhamero but said he just wanted to ‘scare’ him.
The teenager claimed he and others had followed Rhamero after seeing him drive at a drug dealer ‘as if he was going to run him over’.
The 17-year-old told jurors: ‘I weren’t happy about what I had just seen, I wanted to speak to him about it.’
Lawrence, of Moston, and Mr. Wynter, of no fixed address, did not give evidence during the trial.
Cashin, Lawrence, and the 17-year-old boy are due to be sentenced next month.
After his death, Rhamero’s family said: ‘We are all devastated and are now left with an empty hole in our hearts.
‘Mero was a beautiful soul and got on with everyone who he met. He will be sadly missed, lots of love son, we will love you forever – mum, dad, Remi and not forgetting your nephew Caerus.
‘We will make sure he will never forget you. Each and everyone in the family right now wishes you were still here. Sleep tight baby boy till we meet again. We love you forever.’
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