East Ham man charged over gang stab death

Two men – one from East Ham – accused of stabbing a teenager to death in a gang attack outside a nightclub were remanded in custody when they appeared at the Old Bailey.

Joel Asare-Minta, 21, of Park Avenue, East Ham, and Diphy Menga, 23, along with a 17-year-old who cannot be named, are said to have been part of a group that knifed 17-year-old Kelvin Chibueze outside the Artifex Club in Ilford.

A total of eight people are now facing charges of murder and violent disorder in relation to the killing on August 15.

Asare-Minta and Menga, who are currently in Pentonville Prison, and the 17-year-old, who is in Feltham young offenders institute, appeared via videolink for a brief hearing.

No applications for bail were made and Asare-Minta, Menga, of Ilford, and the 17-year-old, from Dagenham, were remanded in custody.

They will return to court on April 20 for a plea and case management hearing alongside Dale Williams, 20, Lerone Boye, 24, Ibrahim Zakari, 20, Kongolo Kongola, and Roger Damali, both 30.

A provisional trial date has been scheduled for September 2.