Jealous lover, 20, allegedly roped in eight family members to stab, kill ex-girlfriend's new 18-year-old boyfriend
A jealous lover who bombarded his former girlfriend with death threats reportedly teamed up with his family to murder her teenage boyfriend, a court heard on Monday.
The victim, 18-year-old Jay Sewell, was stabbed and killed by a group of nine people—including 20-year-old Daniel 'Joe' Grogan—after Gemma Hodder began seeing him. The incident reportedly occurred on December 11, 2018.
The London court also heard that Grogan had allegedly spread his "poison" to friends and members of his "close-knit family" who all went after Sewell in Lee, South East London.
The group reportedly had multiple weapons on their person at the time of the attack, including knives, baseball bats and a four-foot-long fireman's axe.
The accused include Gorgan, his parents 57-year-old Robert and 54-year-old Ann, siblings 29-year-old Francesca, and 22-year-old Peter, cousin 19-year-old Liam Hickey, a 16-year-old boy who can not be identified, Francesca's boyfriend 31-year-old Jamie Bennett, and 25-year-old Charlie Dudley.
Jurors on Monday heard that Grodan sent Hodder multiple messages in the days leading up to the murder, warning her: "I swear on everything he's a dead man Gemma."
Reports state that Grogan, between 12.37pm and 8.04pm, sent 45 unanswered texts to Hodder's phone.
The texts also included: "I'll put a bullet straight through his head on my nieces life that's a promise"; "I'm gonna smash his house up and set it on fire and I'm gonna stab the s*** out him, I promise you on my niece's life."
Hodder responded to the messages with: "He's not scared," according to the Daily Mail.
Attorney Rossano Scamardella, defending Dudley, asked Hodder during the hearing: "'Jay's not scared.' Is that what you thought at the time?" Hodder replied with, "Yes", while fighting back tears.
Grogan reportedly also threatened Hodder's family, claiming: "I'll send 30 n***as through your front door you nerd."
Grogan, a day before the killing, at 6:19am sent another message to Hodder, saying: "I'm gonna stamp all over you you're a f***ing little sl*g man you wrong un."
Just half an hour later, he sent another text saying: "Watch when someone gets deaded off over this. And it will be Jay I promise you."
On the day of the killing, Hodder's mother had warned her to stay away from Grogan, saying: "I seriously don't want you to have any contact with him at all. He is too unpredictable x."
Minutes later, Grogan messaged her again, saying: "He will die or eat through a straw for six months." To which Hodder responded with: "You're the least bait kid in the world all they gotta do is look at jays phone and know who's behind it."
The trial in the case continues as all suspects involved have denied the allegations.