Inside the bloody, decade-long north London turf war – with four murders in two years – that led to Old Bailey brawl as gang member leaps from the public gallery to confront hero barrister

• Rivals from the NPK and WGM gangs have been embroiled in a bitter tit-for-tat postcode battle for 10 years
• Their war centres on Lordship Lane – a two mile stretch of road between Nothumberland Park and Wood Green straddling their N17 and N22 postcodes 
• Four young people have been murdered around the Haringey road in two years
• A  fight broke yesterday out at the Old Bailey as five members of NPK were jailed for a total of 116 years for murdering an WGM rival
• Gang members fought with court security and an NPK member jumped from the public gallery to confront the a barrister and female police officer

The Old Bailey murder trial brawl yesterday is the latest shocking chapter in a bitter, decade long, north London turf war, MailOnline can reveal.

Rival members from the NPK gang in Northumberland Park have fought a bloody, tit-for-tat battle for 10 years with their neighbours WGM from Wood Green – which has included four murders in two years as well as numerous, life-changing shootings and stabbings.

The latest episode in their feud came at Britain’s most high profile court when five NPK ‘soldiers’ were jailed for 116 years between them for the brutal machete murder of WGM man Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, 19.

For a decade a bitter feud has been fought between the NPK gang in Northumberland Park and WGM gang in Wood Green. Their battles centre around Lordship Lane, a two-mile road that straddles the warring gangs’ post codes. Yesterday five members of NPK were jailed at the Old Bailey for the murder of WGM rival Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck. Hero barrister Oliver Glasgow intervened when an intruder jumped from the public gallery to confront him and a female cop  

The masked assassins rode BMXs as they chased Kamali down the street and butchered him inside the Koffe an Kreem hairdressers in Wood Green.

His killers – Tyrell Graham, 18, Sheareem Cookhorn, 21, Jayden O’Neil-Crichlow, Shane Lyons, and Ojay Hamilton, all 17, fought with court security guards as they were jailed.

Barrister Oliver Glasgow QC was prosecuting the NPK gang at the Old Bailey when a supporter screamed at him: ‘I’ll murder you!’

In extraordinary scenes, a man in his 20s leapt over the public gallery barrier and fell into the courtroom where he screamed at the prosecutor Oliver Glasgow ‘I’ll murder you!’ before attacking a female police officer.

The turf war centres on Lordship Lane, a two-mile stretch of road in Haringey between Northumberland Park and Wood Green.

Straddling the gangs’ rival N17 and N22 postcodes, the road where most of the murders, stabbings and shootings have taken place is only seven miles from the wood panelled surroundings of the Old Bailey. But in reality it’s a world away.

Kamali’s killing was part of ‘a longstanding and mutual hatred’ between the two gangs who brag about their crimes on social media and into lyrics for drill rap music.

Before him 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne-Blake was killed in a drive-by shooting as she sat on a wall with friends on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham in April 2018.

The trainee hairdresser and youth mentor had no links to gangs but was shot by a gunman who had been sitting in the passenger seat of a Vauxhall Meriva.

Her killer has still not been found and her devastated mother last week made a tearful appeal for witnesses to contact police after officers recovered the gun believed to have been used in her daughter’s murder.

Two members of the NPK gang Ojay Hamilton (left) and Shane Lyons (right) were each locked up for a minimum of 21 years for the murder of 19-year-old rival Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck

Tyrell Graham (left) was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Sheareem Cookhorn (centre) was jailed for 28 years and Jayden O’Neill-Crichlow (right), 17, was jailed for a minimum of 21 years

‘I just want people to come forward to say what they know, it’s heart-breaking,’ she pleaded.

‘Tanesha was innocent and had lots going for her, a lot of goals and dreams.

‘It’s disgusting how youngsters are able to put their hands on guns like this. They should be into doing something better with their lives rather than taking other people’s lives.’

Leading the hunt for her killers, Detective Chief Inspector Neil John of the Metropolitan Police said: ‘We believe those who shot Tanesha are involved in gang activity and she died as the result of ongoing territory disputes in the area.’

Victim Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck was stabbed to death at a hair salon in Wood Green, north London, last year, after being chased by the masked gang on BMX bikes

A CCTV image of the gang members cycling before the attack. Five defendants who murdered a rival with swords were jailed for a total of 116 years at the Old Bailey

One theory is that it was a case of mistaken identity and one of Tanesha’s friends may have been the intended target. 

The feud also cost NPK member Kwabena ‘Kobi’ Nelson his life in February 2018.

Kobi, 22, was dragged out of his Honda Civic in Tottenham by men carrying poles and blades before being butchered in the street.

Neron Quartey, 21, from Wood Green, was convicted of his murder and sentenced to a minimum of 26 years in prison.

A month after Kobi’s murder 19-year-old Kelvin Odunyi was shot in the head as he stood with friends outside Wood Green’s Vue cinema in March 2018.

His murder by a moped gunman is thought to have been in revenge for Kobi’s killing.

NPK member Kwabena ‘Kobi’ Nelson (left), 22, was knifed to death in Tottenham in 2018. Tanesha Melbourne-Blake (right), a hairdresser with no links to gangs, was killed in a drive-by shooting as she sat on a wall with friends on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham in the same year

Privately-educated Kelvin, a rapper who went by the name DipDat and was also known as Lampz, attended the prestigious £26,000-a-year Fulneck School in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, and his mother insisted her ‘clever handsome’ son wasn’t part of a gang.

Thugs posted a sick music video to YouTube with the lyrics ‘I got you a coffin’ about his death.

Speaking at the time his brother Kai, 24, from Harrow, said: ‘This has been so upsetting. How is it possible that they can talk about my brother’s death and get away with it?

‘No one has ever been convicted of his murder. We want someone to be accountable.’

Pastor Ryan King, of Grace Baptist Church in Wood Green, said drill rap was fuelling the spiralling violence between the two gangs and said the videos should be taken off social media.

He described the music genre, which exploded in popularity in Chicago’s South Side in 2012, as ‘nihilistic’, ‘incendiary’ and ‘violence-promoting.’

He said: ‘I do think that these sorts of videos, and the irresponsible use of social media more widely through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat etc, are fuelling the escalation of violence in north London. It is like petrol on a fire.’

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