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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

Father and sons jailed for killing man, 25, in Brent machete attack

A father and his two sons have been jailed for chasing and killing 25-year-old Devon Jensen-Wallace in Brent.

The victim was chased down and stabbed in the leg with a machete by Elvis Grant, 51, and his sons Jamal, 31, and Lamar, 26 on June 1 last year.

The weapon hit his femoral artery, and he bled to death.

On Tuesday, Elvis and Jamal were jailed for life at the Old Bailey with a minimum term of 24 years for Devon’s murder.

They were both also sentenced to two years’ imprisonment to run concurrently for perverting the course of justice.

Lamar Grant was jailed for 15 years for a combination of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.

Victim: Devon Jensen-Wallace (Met Police)

The Old Bailey heard how Mr Jensen-Wallace had met two friends on Neasden’s St Raphael’s Estate around 6pm on June 1 last year, before walking around the area and visiting shops.

Then “two or three men” - one armed with a machete-type knife and another with a baseball bat - crept up on them from a bin area and confronted them.

The group of friends ran away, but as they were being chased Mr Jensen-Wallace was stabbed in the leg.

As the attackers chased them, one could reportedly be heard shouting something like “you can’t get away with this, you can’t run away”. Cameras also recorded one attacker shouting: “Get him.”

Mr Jensen-Wallace died at the scene less than an hour later from blood loss.

Police said on Tuesday that they had faced a wall of silence from the local community due to fear of the Grants.

Met Detective Chief Inspector Joe Garrity said: “These defendants are suspected of being linked to a gang associated with serious violence.

“My team were faced with a wall of silence, even Devon’s friends would not speak to officers.

“However, seeing the fear these people created only made us more determined to bring them to justice.”

Police focussed on the Grants’ family home in Neasden as Jamal Grant had previously been assaulted and may have blamed Mr Jensen-Wallace.

During a raid on the home, a black baseball bat was found in the kitchen and testing showed a fingerprint from Lamar Grant and blood from Devon Jensen-Wallace.

“Hours” of reconstruction, phone work, and CCTV enquiries also helped build evidence against the Grants, despite their denial of involvement, said DCI Garrity.

“My officers, led by Detective Sergeant Devan Taylor, meticulously pieced together the various strands of information so we could identify those responsible for Devon’s death,” he said.

“As a result of that work we were able to present a strong case and bring his killers to justice.”

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