Operation Lapis was the prosecution of four teenage gang members for the murder of a 15 year old member of an opposition gang – the offence was committed in July 2018. The victim was “executed” by a group of attackers who were all armed with machetes and Samurai swords – he received over 40 individual injuries.
The offence was committed in front of members of the public, one of whom described the attacking group as behaving like “feeding piranhas”. The investigation revealed that the respective gangs had been involved in “county lines” drug dealing and possession of both firearms and bladed weapons. The presentation of the prosecution case required reliance upon hearsay evidence, vulnerable witnesses and complex CCTV material. The case was conducted under the current COVID conditions which involved linking some defendants and junior counsel to the main courtroom via video cameras.
Mike Duck QC who prosecuted this case with Siobhan Collins, Phil Bradley QC and Ecky Tiwana defended King.
Further reading:
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/keelan-wilsons-gang-killers-take-19634514
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-55705479
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cctv-shows-final-moments-boy-23340296
