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Jaden Moodie murder: suspect accused of ‘preposterous’ claims

Ayoub Majdouline has said his clothes were stolen and worn by an attacker of the 14-year-old

A teenager’s claim that another gang member stole his clothes and wore them during the murder of 14-year-old Jaden Moodie is “preposterous”, a court has been told.

Ayoub Majdouline, 19, is accused of being part of a drug gang who rammed Jaden to the ground with a car before stabbing him with three knives and leaving him to bleed to death in the street in Leyton, east London.

One of the five people involved in the attack was wearing Majdouline’s jeans, black jacket and yellow rubber gloves. The defendant’s DNA was found on the discarded jeans and gloves – which also had Jaden’s DNA on them – as well as the handle of a knife, which had traces of Jaden’s blood on the blade.

The prosecutor, Oliver Glasgow QC, said the attacker identified as “suspect two”, who was captured on CCTV, wore the same grey hoodie and black trainers as Majdouline – although the defendant denies these were his – and was the same size and had the same skin colour as him.

Majdouline has claimed the clothes were stolen after he left them in a JD Sports bag in a drugs safe house and were then worn during the killing of Jaden.

However, in his closing submissions at the Old Bailey on Monday, Glasgow said: “The idea that he simply left his bag of clothes behind is preposterous.”

He said Majdouline, despite admitting being associated with the Mali boys gang, was contending he was the victim of an “unfortunate mistake”.

Jaden suffered catastrophic injuries from nine stab wounds inflicted in seven seconds as he lay in the road on 8 January.

The prosecution case is that Majdouline and four accomplices killed Jaden in “the most shocking and brutal fashion” because he was dealing drugs for a rival east London gang, the Beaumont Crew, or Let’s Get Rich gang.

Glasgow said: “The murder of Jaden Moodie was clearly a gang attack. It was a ride out, committed by those who had planned the violence.”

He said the killers were fuelled by an attitude that “we can do what we want, when we want, to who we want and there’s nothing you can do about it”.

The court has previously heard that after a referral in 2017 Majdouline had last year been deemed by the National Crime Agency to be a victim of modern slavery.

Majdouline, whose father died in 2015, had left his mother’s home after being abused by his stepfather and was seen in Hampshire, an area with which he had no connection, in the company of a known drug dealer.

Addressing the defendant’s background, Glasgow said: “He chose to get involved in drug dealing. Ultimately, he chose to go out ready and willing to kill anyone from the opposition … He chose to do what he did because being a Mali boy means more than the lives of their rivals … There’s no doubt he was taken advantage of, that’s what the drug business is all about … but no one made him do this.”

At times, the defendant shook his head as he listened to the prosecutor, while at other times bowing his head.

Beginning his summing up, the defence counsel, James Scobie QC, described his client as “isolated” and “troubled” and suggested Majdouline had been mocked by the prosecution during cross-examination.

Although his client admitted carrying a knife in the past, Scobie said there was no evidence of him ever using it or having been involved in gang violence in the past. He also questioned why Majdouline’s DNA had not been found in the Mercedes car used during the attack on Jaden.

Majdouline denies murder and an additional charge of carrying a knife. The jury is expected to be sent out to consider its verdicts on Tuesday.