A man who admitted to “tripping out” on drugs while failing to attend his trial has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years for his “pivotal” part in a fatal ambush.
Vittorio Di Murro, 26, of Walthamstow, east London, was arrested in Anzio, Italy, last October where he fled two days after he and others attacked 25-year-old Jordan Briscoe with a single knife on March 5 2023.
Mr Briscoe was lured to Arnold Road, Tottenham, north London, by what the prosecution said was a fake request by a woman to meet up to buy drugs.
His partner, Rianne Lucas, found out she was pregnant with his child after the murder, and told the Old Bailey on Friday that she now has to provide for her daughter alone “because of a senseless act”.
Four other men were convicted of Mr Briscoe’s murder at an earlier trial and have all been locked up for life – Karl Black, 44, Ayyub Kigozi, 19, and Jabir Sitar, 21, all from Walthamstow, and Jahoe Allen, 34, of Uxbridge, west London.
Christina Manen, 37, of Ramsgate, who was the one to contact Mr Briscoe, was found guilty of manslaughter.
Di Murro was originally tried with his five co-defendants, but the Old Bailey heard on Friday that his legal team withdrew and he was discharged from that trial because he consistently “disrupted proceedings” by failing to attend.
Judge Anthony Leonard KC said a separate trial was fixed for Di Murro alone but the pattern continued, with him failing to attend pre-trial hearings as well as 11 of his conferences with his lawyers.
Di Murro said he was unwell on the first day of his trial but the judge said a doctor found there were no signs he was ill.
Concerns were then raised that he was taking “illicit substances”, which were affecting his behaviour.
“On December 12, a day when you were said to be unfit to attend court although you seemed capable of attending a social visit in prison… you acknowledged that you had taken something that was ‘good’,” the judge said.
“You described yourself as ‘tripping out’.”
I consider you to be unrepresentable
Di Murro did not give evidence in his trial and was convicted on Wednesday, after which he “dispensed” with his legal team and said he would represent himself.
“I have gone through the history of this to show why I have proceeded to sentence with you being unrepresented and in your absence,” Judge Leonard said.
“I consider you to be unrepresentable.
“I make it clear that your behaviour does not affect the sentence I impose.
“What your behaviour has done is cause the family of the deceased to have to constantly put up with interrupted proceedings which must have caused them strain and I pay tribute to their fortitude.”
The judge ordered that the victim impact statements from Ms Lucas and Mr Briscoe’s mother Claudette be sent to Di Murro in prison.
“The victim impact statements show that your group cut short the life of a man who was much loved and who no one had to a bad thing to say about,” he said.
“His partner Rianne did not know at the time Jordan was murdered that she was pregnant with his child and she will now bring up her daughter who will not know her father.”
As much as I was happy that I would always have a piece of him with me, I also knew with everything in me how much he wanted to be a dad and how happy he would have been
He also said Di Murro “played a pivotal part” in the attack by arranging for the two youngest defendants, Kigozi and Sitar, to join the group.
The judge did not accept that Di Murro was struggling with any mental health needs, adding: “Any issues you have are a result of your admitted use of illicit drugs.”
In an emotional address, Ms Lucas told of how her partner was known in their community as “the happy man”, adding: “Not everybody knew his name but they knew his smile.”
“Not long after I found out I was pregnant,” she continued. “As much as I was happy that I would always have a piece of him with me, I also knew with everything in me how much he wanted to be a dad and how happy he would have been.
“It’s not fair to our beautiful daughter who I now have to raise by myself. A daughter I have to now provide for alone because of a senseless act. A daughter who, when she wants to see her dad, I have to take her to the cemetery.”
Claudette Briscoe spoke of the “joy and light” her son brought to her and her family’s lives.
“The pain of knowing his daughter will grow up without her father’s love and guidance is a burden that weighs heavily on my heart every single day,” she told the court.
This last defendant in particular has shown no willingness to claim his part in my son’s tragic end
“His daughter will never hear his voice, feel his embrace or experience the joy of having him by her side.
“Adding to our pain is the disrespectful behaviour of the defendants,” the mother added.
“This last defendant in particular has shown no willingness to claim his part in my son’s tragic end.”
Doorbell footage showed a group surrounding Mr Briscoe in Tottenham in March last year just before 10pm, talking to him for around 11 minutes asking him about drugs and asking for his name, age and about his religion.
They then moved out of the camera’s view to carry out the fatal attack.
Kigozi was also found guilty of robbing Mr Briscoe of his phone during the incident.
The jury took less than an hour to convict Di Murro of murder.
