A gang member who helped “butcher” Kaan Aslan in a “brutal and unprovoked attack” on the Nightingale Estate was today found guilty of his murder.

Bruno Pateco-Te, 24, of Chelmer Road, was also found guilty of one count of violent disorder at the Old Bailey – he will be sentenced at the same court tomorrow.

During the trial jurors heard how Mr Aslan, 20, who was not part of any gang, was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” when he was knifed in the chest in Monteagle Way, Lower Clapton, just before midnight on November 13, 2017.

At least five men are thought to have taken part in the “planned attack” – but Pateco-Te is the first to be brought to justice.

Det Ch Insp Laurence Smith said: “The initial investigation into this murder proved to be complicated, as we could find no reason for Kaan to have been targeted in such a brutal and unprovoked assault.

“We established that Pateco-Te was seeking retribution for a previous assault on a family member. He travelled to the scene in a white van with others looking for someone to attack. He picked out Kaan, who was not associated with any gangs, and who was not involved in the assault, before stabbing him in the street.

“Our thoughts remain with Kaan’s family who have been devastated by his murder and were left with many unanswered questions about that night.”

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a stab wound to the heart.

Thirteen people were arrested on suspicion of offences including murder and violent disorder during the investigation.

It was the Crown’s case that rivalry between three Hackney gangs, the Niners, Stokey 16 and London Fields, led to Mr Aslan’s killing.

Just a week before the attack, the defendant’s brother, said to be a member of the Niners gang – so-called after the E9 postcode – was attacked and seriously injured after driving with his girlfriend down Rectory Road, “a street more commonly associated with his rivals”.

The attack was then “glorified” in a gang rap video posted to YouTube, which included the lyrics: “Do him up in front of his baby mother. Couldn’t give a f*** about [his girlfriend’s name].”

“Thus it was that Bruno Pateco-Te and his friends went out looking for a potential target or targets upon whom they could vent their anger,” Oliver Glasgow, for the Crown, told jurors.

“Upon seeing Kaan Aslan, the group chased down their target and butchered him. He was spotted in the street and his attackers demanded to know where he was from, and when he tried to escape he was set upon. [...]

“There was little hope of survival from a wound such as that and despite the prompt attention of paramedics and doctors Kaan Aslan died in the road, only a short distance from where he lived with his family.

“Perhaps the real tragedy of what happened is that Kaan Aslan was not a member of any gang and had no reason to be the focus.”