Josie Hinton THE murky world of drug dealing was at the heart of the brutal murder of 18-year-old Jevon Henry on the Lisson Green estate, a court has heard. The teenager from Langham Street in Marylebone died after being stabbed through the heart and be

Josie Hinton

THE "murky" world of drug dealing was at the heart of the brutal murder of 18-year-old Jevon Henry on the Lisson Green estate, a court has heard.

The teenager from Langham Street in Marylebone died after being stabbed through the heart and beaten with a hammer outside Horwood House in Paveley Street on January 24, 2007.

Two sets of brothers, Toufajul and Jubed Miah, 21 and 26, and Kamal and Muhid Abdul, 21 and 25, all from the Lisson Green estate, deny murder along with Taz Uddin, 22, from St John's Wood.

The five defendants remained silent during police interview but now say they acted in self defence after being attacked by Jevon Henry and his friend David Joseph who tried to extort �2,000.

"The defence wish you believe that this murky world is a one-way street," said prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee at the Old Bailey last Friday.

"That on January 24, 2007, Jevon Henry and David Joseph went a bit mad and suddenly embarked on extortion with people they had a non-existent connection with.

"People in the drugs world do fall out. This is a world not just of equals but a world where these men took the upper hand by frankly and candidly setting up their victims.

"It may be a matter of chance whether David Joseph or Jevon Henry was the victim that day. But it was the younger person, the 18-year-old, who ended up dead."

The court heard how Toufajal, Kamal and Muhid were all involved in dealing cannabis or cocaine on the Lisson Green estate. Toufajal admitted pocketing �5,000 profit in six months and Kamal earned �10,000 in a year.

The court heard how Muhid - known as 'posh' for his expensive cars - lived an extravagant life, renting a Range Rover for �150 per day and collecting designer clothing.

"Muhid's drug dealing was on a different scale to Toufajal and Kamal," said Mr Jafferjee. "It was serious, it was lucrative and it was criminal."

The defendants deny having any dealings with Jevon at any time. But jurors heard that Jevon's mobile had Toufajal's phone number on speed dial, as well as Kamal's mobile number stored as K-Man.

One witness also described seeing someone matching Jevon's description talking to Mudid the day before the murder.

"The drugs picture has come in from all sides like a mantel over this case and you are being led to believe by the defendants that this is a one-way street over extortion," said Mr Jafferjee.

"The truth is this was a murky, dirty world the defendants chose to go into. It was a world where when the dispute happened they armed themselves and they took a life."

The trial continues.