Two youths who killed teenager pictured for the first time
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wo youths who were part of a gang that killed a 16-year-old boy during a dispute have been pictured for the first time.
Shai Howes and Oisin Barrett were both just 15 when they killed Ramarni Crosby in Gloucester[1] in December 2021.
Ramarni was stabbed to death after being confronted by a gang of youths armed with a machete, meat cleaver and knives.
Court orders had prevented the two teenagers being publicly identified but the restrictions were lifted following an application by the media after they were sentenced for manslaughter at Bristol Crown Court.
Howes was sentenced to eight years and nine months’ detention while Barrett received a seven-and-a-half-year sentence.
The pair, who are now both 16, were convicted alongside Levi Cameron, 19, of killing Ramarni.
Callum Charles-Quebella, 18, had previously admitted manslaughter.
The four, who were all acquitted of murder, were part of the gang that attacked the trainee electrician but did not inflict the fatal blows.
CCTV footage taken from properties in the Barton[2] area of the city shows Ramarni and his four friends running away but the teenager then slowing and collapsing in Stratton Road where he died a short time later.
During the trial the court heard the build-up and aftermath of the attack was captured on CCTV cameras from nearby houses but not the stabbing itself.
The court heard the defendants were part of a gang called GL1 and would wear purple bandanas as a sign of membership and there was an ongoing rivalry with friends of Ramarni.
Ramarni, who was unarmed, punched one of the gang before he was set upon by “ferocious animals” and stabbed several times.
After the fatal attack, Cameron, Howes and Barrett fled the scene and got a taxi to a nearby house where CCTV cameras showed them acting out the incident – with their arms held up and moving downwards in stabbing motions.
They then “celebrated” the teenager’s death after being told he had died – with Cameron “jumping for joy”.
Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Cutts said the impact of Ramarni’s death on many lives was “immeasurable”.
“The evidence I heard during the course of this trial of young men and children carrying knives in Gloucester was chilling,” she said.
“Nothing that happened before remotely justifies your group arming themselves that day.
“Never before is there a clearer example of the danger of carrying knives than this case and the death of this young boy.
“Ramarni did not have any weapons and he threw a punch and it was that single punch that resulted in some of you acting like ferocious animals to set upon him.
“It is not possible to say who struck the fatal blow.”
The judge ruled both Cameron and Charles-Quebella were “dangerous” and imposed extended sentences of detention.
Cameron, who was armed with a machete, received a 15-and-a-half-year sentence comprising of 12-and-a-half-years’ detention and an extended three-year licence period.
Charles-Quebella, who was “right in the forefront of the attack” armed with a meat cleaver, was given an 11-and-a-half-year sentence comprising of eight-and-a-half-years’ detention and an extended three-year licence period.
Neither Howes or Barrett were carrying weapons, the court heard.
Later Barrett wrote drill lyrics to a song glorifying the death and Charles-Quebella created a mock-up photo of him holding a machete over Ramarni, who was from Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire.
Four other defendants, Dean Smith[3], 20, and three 17-year-olds, were all found not guilty of murder and manslaughter.
A ninth defendant, Keishaleigh Margrett-Whitter, 20, was acquitted of two charges of assisting an offender.
References
- ^ Gloucester (www.standard.co.uk)
- ^ Barton (www.standard.co.uk)
- ^ Dean Smith (www.standard.co.uk)