Ten men, including a top sports agent, took part in a “revenge attack” over a stolen Blackberry phone which resulted in the death of a teenager, a court heard.

Christopher Nathaniel, 40, his business partner Paul Boadi, 34, and eight other men are accused of killing the young man in Custom House on December 2 2011.

The teenager died after being beaten with baseball bats and stabbed in the throat just yards from his mother’s home in Gill Avenue, the Old Bailey heard.

Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, said the defendants travelled to the area to “exact revenge” after Boadi’s mobile phone was stolen a week earlier.

“The plan was to teach a lesson,” Mr Heywood said.

“A lesson with violence that you do not mess with Paul Boadi, Christopher Nathanial, or anyone else.

“When it came to it, the plan was carried out with speed, with force and with zeal.”

Mr Heywood said Boadi was left “angry and upset” when as many as seven men attacked him and took his phone a week earlier.

He spoke to his friend Nathaniel and the pair arranged to return to the area with another eight men to hunt for those responsible, it was claimed.

“Plan of violence”

Eight of the men hired a mini bus to travel to Custom House on the evening of December 2, while Boadi and Nathaniel travelled in taxis, the court heard.

They spent more than two hours searching the area before they came across a group of young men, including Mr O’Shea, who they believed robbed Boadi and gave chase, Mr Heywood said.

Some of the men caught Mr O’Shea and began beating him before one of the defendants stabbed him in the neck, the court heard.

The defendants then fled as the teenager attempted to return home but he died at the scene, Mr Heywood said,

A Twitter message was allegedly published shortly after Mr O’Shea’s death, which read: “The element of surprise, such a beautiful thing.”

Mr Heywood said it was not known which defendant stabbed Mr O’Shea but claimed all of the accused were aware of the “plan of violence”.

“Each one was there to play a part,” he added.

“Some to spot, some to drive, some to drive away.

“Even so, every one was there to assist in some way.”

All of the accused deny murder and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

The defendants are Nathaniel and Boadi, both of Docklands, east London; David Hylton, 47, from Holborn, central London; Andrew Johnson, 35, Paul Johnson, 33, and O’Neil Wareham, 30, all from Harrow, north west London; Ferron Perue, 24, from Birmingham; Kevin Richards, 32, from Harlesden, north London; Nugent Rowe, 29, from Pinner, Middlesex, and Scott Marius, 44, from Clinton Villas, west London.