Bailey McKenzie briefed a drive-by gunman to open fire at Khalid Mohammed, which left the finance student with catastrophic brain injuries, in Hackney, east London
A thug who briefed a drive-by gunman to shoot a finance student has been jailed – after aiming a threat at the judge on Instagram.
Bailey McKenzie has been sentenced to 33 years in jail after he was convicted of conspiracy to murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. Sentencing McKenzie, a drill rapper also known as Billy Billions, Judge Philip Katz was made aware of the threat the yob was somehow able to post on social media while await sentencing in prison.
He had named Judge Katz and prosecutor Alexandra Healy, complaining his trial had been unfair and telling the pair “this ain’t over.” However, the judge branded the content “self-obsessed, self-pitying, self-serving rubbish” as he last week ordered the rapper to serve more than three decades in prison.
Although McKenzie, 28, was not in the car, he played a key role in plotting the attack in Hackney, east London, on December 14, 2020. When he was snagged, he blamed police for framing him and, upon his conviction, argued he had a racist jury.
But sitting at the Old Bailey, Judge Katz said: “Depressing as it is, it comes as no surprise to me that you were able to post that (the threat) from prison. Why you did so is beyond me. I am named in it so you obviously intended me to see it. It informs me as to you attitude and the level of danger you pose to the public. In my judgement you are a dangerous offender.”
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New digital forensic technology linked McKenzie, of no fixed abode, to the shooting, which saw five innocent men hurt after being caught up in a gang rivalry they had nothing to do with. One of these, 25-year-old Khalid Mohammed, was hit in the head and suffered catastrophic brain injuries.
The student had been sitting in a hired Mercedes car with five friends who were about to go out to celebrate a birthday when the drive by shooters pulled up in a Vauxhall Zafira. Six shots were fired into the car and Mr Mohammed was hit twice.
The judge added: “They were all entirely responsible young men who had nothing to do with gangs or criminality of any sort… But this appalling incident did not happen out of the blue. It was one more episode of the gang warfare on the streets of north London, which has been raging for a long time.”
He told McKenzie: “You are obviously highly intelligent with a quick mind and an eye for detail. As clever criminals do, you wove truth and lies together with consummate skill.”
The court heard the shooting was a result of the gang rivalry between members of the Holly Street Gang and McKenzie’s London Fields group. The Holly Street Gang had uploaded drill videos calling for ‘homicides’ before the shooting.
Three other men have previously been jailed for the shooting. Reuel Briscoe, 32, was previously jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years for conspiracy to murder. The gunman Dalvane Greenaway, 24, was jailed for 28 years and Julian Kalala, 26, who was in the car got 30 years.
McKenzie has previous convictions for weapons and affray and is currently in prison for 13 years for a firearms offence. McKenzie made an Instagram post on his Billy Billions Instagram account six days ago.
The thug put one of his songs on the post and set his location as “HMP Prison Belmarsh”. He said drill lyrics were being put before juries as proof of a violent character ‘playing on racist stereotypes’.