Honeytrap gang leader will be freed from prison 13 years after he was jailed for life for using 15-year-old girl to lure rival to his death

  • EXCLUSIVE: Danny McLean, 32, murdered a young boy in south London in 2008
  • He and 15-year-old Samantha Joseph lured Shakilus Townsend, 16 into a street 
  • There, Shakilus was mercilessly beaten and stabbed by McLean and his gang
  • A parole board recommended McLean be freed on licence with strict conditions

The leader of a gang who lured a young boy to his death with a ‘honeytrap’ is to be freed from prison after being granted parole.

Danny McLean, now 32, will walk free in weeks after the Parole Board recommended he be released on licence earlier today.

McLean conspired with then 15-year-old Samantha Joseph to entice Shakilus Townsend, 16, into a fatal trap in Thornton Heath, south London, in 2008. 

16-year-old Shakilus was besotted with Joseph, who was also involved with jealous love rival McLean.

Once they arrived in a quiet cul-de-sac, Shakilus was cornered by McLean, then aged 18 and his gang. The victim was stabbed six times and beaten with a baseball bat as he cried out for his mother. 


16-year-old Shakilus Townsend (pictured right) was lured into a quiet cul-de-sac in Thornton Heath, south London, in 2008 and beaten and stabbed to death by Danny McLean (left) and his gang

The killing shocked the nation and shone a light on out-of-control gangs such as McLean’s then-infamous Shine My Nine Gang.

Ringleader McLean was sentenced to life at the Old Bailey in 2009 with a minimum term of 15-years.

Joseph spent 10 years in prison for her role in the killing and was deported to her native Trinidad in 2019. 

On September 10, McLean his first appearance before the Parole Board.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said:’We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Danny McLean following an oral hearing.

‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

Samantha Joseph, aged 15 at the time, was involved with both McLean, then 18, and Shakilus, 16. She spent ten years in prison for luring Shakilus to his death, before being deported to her native Trinidad in 2019 

‘A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

‘Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.

‘Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing.

‘It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.

‘Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’

In a summary of their decision, the Parole Board stated ‘his (McLean’s) behaviour in prison had been positive for most of his sentence.’

It added: ‘He had undertaken the required accredited programmes to address offending behaviour and was assessed as having made sufficient progress to be transferred to an open prison in February 2020.

CCTV showed Samantha Joseph and Daniel McLean casually walking away from the murder scene, while Shakilus lay bleeding to death and calling for his mother

‘It (the panel) was told that he had continually engaged and complied with the open prison regime.

‘Having completed the requirement resettlement activities, Mr McLean had found employment and had spent a considerable amount of time at work, in the community on temporary licence without concern.

‘He had also completed short periods of overnight release to an approved address.

‘There had been no evidence of Mr McLean associating with negative peers either in prison or in the community.’

The panel recommended McLean’s release on licence subject to strict conditions, including living at an agreed address, electronic monitoring and restrictions on his daily contacts.

The decision of the Parole Board is provisional for 21-days. During that time, the Secretary of State can appeal the decision, though that is rare.

At McLean’s trial, the jury heard that Joseph arranged to meet Shakilus wearing a see-through floral dress on July 3, 2008.

They travelled by bus to a quiet cul de sac in Thornton Heath, south London, where she told him they would meet her cousin.

But CCTV footage showed Joseph send a text to McLean, who lived in Thornton Heath, to seal her boyfriend’s fate.

Joseph, just 15 at the time, lured Shakilus into an alleyway, where he was ambushed by a gang of six masked and hooded teenagers.

The youngster bled to death after being beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed six times in a ‘relentless and merciless attack’ led by a jealous love rival.

The Old Bailey heard how Shakilus was in love with her, after meeting her a month before the attack.

The teenager, from Deptford, south east London, showered her with gifts and told his mother she was beautiful and he wanted to marry her.

But Joseph was also seeing McLean, who was a member of the street gang Shine My Nine.

McLean had dumped Joseph, from Brockley, south east London, when he found out she had cheated on him.

But, obsessed with the violent thug, she was prepared to do anything to get him back and they decided to set up her unwitting lover.

The court heard how McLean, wearing his gang’s trademark orange bandanna across his face, plunged the knife into Shakilus’ chest, raking it across his liver before twisting the blade.

The killers were later chased away by neighbours who found the teenager lying bleeding to death and sobbing, ‘mummy, mummy, mummy…I don’t want to die’.

The Old Bailey was told how Joseph was later seen walking off with McLean, carrying his hoodie and a cream-coloured handbag stained with blood.

She had confessed to friends that she had agreed to ‘get Shak set’.

She and McLean later wiped the victim’s Bebo account to get rid of any link between her and the dead boy.

But Shakilus’s friends logged on to her account to condemn her.

One wrote: ‘REMEMBER U SET UP SHAK YOU B****. AND HE LUVED YOOOOH. YOU IZ ****ED!’

Joseph was convicted alongside McLean and five members of his gang of murder at the Old Bailey on September 3, 2009.

The other killers were brothers Tyrell Ellis, 19, and Don-Carlos Ellis, 18, from Thornton Heath, together with Andrew Johnson-Haynes, a 19-year-old former public schoolboy from Croydon. Andre Thompson and Michael Akinfenwa, both 17, were also found guilty.

Judge Richard Hawkins told the gang: ‘You left him to die a lonely death, crying for his mother.’

The mother of Shakilus Townsend told after the verdict how he was besotted with the girl who betrayed him.

Nicola Dyer, 34, said: ‘He said he was really in love with this girl, that she was to be his future wife and that she was going to have his kids –he was really smitten with her.

‘I’ve never met her but I have spoken to her on the phone. Shaki showed me pictures on his mobile phone and I remember thinking she really is pretty.

‘He was popular and always had girlfriends, but the girl on trial was different.

He really cared about her and I can’t understand how she could have callously set him up and lured him to his death.’

‘Shakilus’s death was a senseless premeditated murder and nobody deserves to die in the appalling way my son did, especially not a child.’

The mother of five paid tribute to her son as a ‘loving, caring person’ who had been trying to put his troubled past behind him.

She also pleaded with with teenage gangs to put down their weapons, saying: ‘You may think you’re in too deep, but you can change.

‘Don’t wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow may be too late.’

The Parole Board will take into consideration McLean’s behaviour in prison, including his involvement with married prison officer Emma Beard.

The mother-of-four was jailed for a year in December 2010 after pleading guilty to misconduct in public office.

Isleworth Crown Court was told she had sex with McLean in his cell at Feltham Young Offenders Institution, Middlesex.

Beard also sent him explicit photos and love letters, the court heard.

Other members of the gang involved in Shakilus’ killing have also been released.

They include Andre Thompson, now aged 30, jailed for a minimum 13 years and three months, who was recommended for release in June.

In 2012, a BBC Three factual drama was made to retell the horrific story.

John Boyega, who played the victim, and went onto find stardom in Star Wars said of the story at the time: ‘I just want young people to see this, and I think it’s very important that they do see it so that it’s something to learn from and as a warning for everyone to be careful.’

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