Rapper Jahtel Williamson, 26, faces life in prison for murder of music producer Dean Pascal-Modeste

Dean Pascale-Modeste died from stab wounds
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A drill rapper who featured on DJ Tim Westwood’s YouTube channel is facing life in prison for the murder of a young music producer in front of horrified parents on the school run.

Jahtel Williamson, 26, was one of the ‘B Side’ gang members who ambushed 21-year-old Dean Pascal-Modeste while he was waiting for friends.

The victim, a budding filmmaker, was not part of a gang, but was caught up in a “poisonous” feud between B Side – from Bellingham near Catford – and the rival Splash gang in Grove Park.

Williamson, of Greenwich, went on the run after the murder, on February 24, 2017, but was traced to the US and extradited back to the UK to face justice in April last year.

On the Old Bailey on Thursday, Williamson was found guilty by a jury of Mr Pascal-Modeste’s murder. He faces a life prison term when sentenced on October 25.

The court heard Williamson – known as Tizzy – was among the masked and balaclava-clad young rappers from the B Side gang who appeared on Tim Westwood’s ‘crib sessions’ on YouTube.

DJ Tim Westwood posing with Jahtel Williamson’s B Side gang (Metropolitan Police/PA)
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Both gangs the videos to exchange insults as a gang feud escalated.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC said Mr Pascal-Modeste, from Barking, east London, was with two friends in Grove Park on the day of the murder as they planned to make a music video.

He was waiting with one of them on a wall when two mopeds pulled up and one of the riders pointed a gun, jurors were told.

Mr Pascal-Modeste and his friend started to flee, but he ran into an ambush from other B Side members who were waiting – armed with knives.

"In the course of a pitiless attack, Dean sustained 14 separate stab wounds”, said Mr Aylett. “Once they had finished with Dean, they ran off. By this time, the mopeds had already sped away. Dean was left lying on the ground, bleeding to death.

Corey Donaldson and Alex Scott, both 18, were part of a mob who ambushed 21-year-old Dean Pascal-Modeste

"All of this had happened in broad daylight at around a quarter to four on a Friday afternoon - indeed, a number of the witnesses had been collecting their children from school.

"This attack, you may think, was as outrageous as it was brazen."

He told the court Mr Pascal-Modeste was the innocent victim of a “poisonous feud between the Splash gang and the B Side gang”, and had been “murdered for the company that he kept”.

Corey Donaldson and Alex Scott, both 23, of Lewisham, southeast London, was convicted of the murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years in November 2017.

After a second trial, Kai Stewart, 22, of Bellingham, was sentenced to life with a 17-year minimum term and Devone Pusey, 25, of Beckenham, was ordered to serve 20 years of a life term.

Williamson, of Greenwich, south east London, denied murder but was convicted by a jury.

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