Two men who fled the country after stabbing Ricardo Fuller to death outside an east London nightclub have been convicted of his murder.
The 24-year-old was approached by a gang of five men while on the dance floor of Discoteca No Problem in Ilford on March 7, 2020. Ricardo had been celebrating a friend's birthday.
The men were asked to leave by staff. When Ricardo left the club a short time later they chased him down the road, stabbing him in the back and neck.
Ricardo went back to the club and collapsed on the dancefloor. Despite best efforts of paramedics he died later that morning from a severed artery in his neck.
Emanuel Tamwesegire, 31, of Chingford, and Edmund Tucker, 31, of Dagenham, were found guilty of his murder after a trial at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.
Another man Jarmaine Ahenkorah, 30, was convicted of manslaughter.
Tamwesegire and Tucker will be sentenced on November 9 and Ahenkorah on November 23.
Two other men, Ahmed Sesay and Abubaker Tarawally, who were 27 and 22 at the time of the killing, fled abroad and are wanted by Metropolitan Police.
Ricardo's family said: "We will always remember Ricardo, he will be in our hearts forever. After three long years we are grateful that justice has finally begun to be served.
"We still await the arrest of two more perpetrators in this case and then we may be able to take steps to move forward with our lives."
Detective Chief Inspector Kelly Allen, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said the killing of Ricardo was "a horrendous crime" and the young man was "ruthlessly pursued" by the gang.
He added: "We are very aware that two suspects for Mr Fuller’s murder remain at large. Both have fled abroad but my team are working tirelessly, with support from Interpol and the NCA, to find these men and bring them back to the UK.
“In such cases, we really need information from the public. We know that these men will still be in contact with family and friends in the UK. There are people in the very community where Ricardo was killed who will know where those responsible are hiding.
“They cannot hide forever and I would urge anyone with information, however insignificant they think it may be, to get in touch with us.
"Anyone with any information about the location of the two outstanding suspects is asked to call the incident room on 020 8345 1570, please quote Operation Sandside.”
The court heard during the trial how there was a longstanding animosity between Ricardo and at least one of the gang.
On Saturday March 7, 2020, Sesay, the three defendants and Abubaker Tarawally, made their way in two cars to the nightclub on Ilford High Road.
The five men went into the club and confronted Ricardo on the dance floor. Staff asked the five men to leave and they walked out - they had only been in the club five minutes.
The group stayed near the club and a short while later Ricardo left the club and was confronted by the group in the middle of the road.
A chase then began with Ricardo being pursued up and down the road as he tried to evade his attackers.
CCTV recorded his pursuers striking out and lunging at Ricardo.
He was stabbed three times - two to his back and a thrid to his neck.
The gang fled the scene and Ricardo was able to make his way back to the club where he collapsed on the dance floor and died later that day.
The cars the gang had used were forensically examined and Ricardo’s blood found on a door recess and Tarwally’s DNA found on items in the same car.
Police discovered the men had already fled the country. In April 2020, the Crown Prosecution Service authorised murder charges against the five men in their absence.
Three of the suspects eventually returned to the UK.
Jarmaine Ahenkorah flew back from Ghana in April 2021, Emanuel Tamwesegire flew back into the country in July 2021 from Amsterdam and Edmund Tucker also returned in July 2021.
