Moped 'highwaymen' who stabbed charity worker to death for iPhone PIN jailed for life

Abdul Samad, 28, died on his parents' doorstep in London

Troy Thomas and Nathan Gilmaney were jailed for murdering charity worker Abdul Samad (Metropolitan Police)

Two moped “highwaymen” who stabbed a charity worker to death for his iPhone PIN during a four-hour spree of violence have been jailed for life.

Nathan Gilmaney, 19, and 18-year-old Troy Thomas left their victim to die in front of his parents on their doorstep while they hunted for more targets.

Abdul Samad offered no resistance as they demanded his phone in Paddington, West London, and handed it over on 16 October last year.

But the Old Bailey heard Gilmaney and Thomas turned around when they realised they needed the mobile’s PIN.

Mr Samad, a 28-year-old youth worker, gave them the code and his wallet but CCTV showed Gilmaney lunging towards him and stabbing him in the chest.

The killer then shouted “let’s go”, climbed back onto the moped with Thomas and sped away to continue the rampage, as Mr Samad collapsed.

Paramedics performed emergency surgery in the street but he died later in hospital of a fatal wound to his heart.

Judge Richard Marks QC jailed Gilmaney for life with a minimum of 27 years and Thomas at Her Majesty’s pleasure with a minimum of 22 years.

“Abdul Samad was an outstanding young man in his 20s, engaged to be married and had his whole life ahead of him,” the judge said. “Your wicked stabbing of him has left his family understandably utterly devastated.”

Gilmaney shouted obscenities moments after the sentence was passed and the packed public gallery had to be cleared after repeated outbursts.

He and Thomas chatted to each other at times during the hearing, repeatedly smiling and laughing together in the dock.

Judge Marks QC described footage of the defendants’ four-hour spree, which saw Gilmaney stab four other victims who survived, as “chilling”.

The culprits were arrested following a police chase, their pockets stuffed with stolen valuables from the rampage fuelled by “aggression and blood lust”.

Thomas was riding the moped on the night, with Gilmaney armed with a knife in the pillion seat, although the court heard they swapped as the evening went on.

They attacked their first victim in Maida Vale, with Gilmaney stabbing the man in the back and puncturing his lung after he tried to run away.

An hour later they attacked another man who was with his elderly aunt in Paddington, threatening them at knifepoint to steal jewellery and money before Gilmaney stabbed him in the stomach.

Mr Samad was the next known target, but not their last. Minutes after leaving him for dead, they tried to rob a man in nearby Golborne Road but he managed to escape.

Abdul Samad, a 28-year-old charity worker, was remembered as a ‘beautiful person’ (Metropolitan Police)

They then targeted another man metres away, trapping the victim between parked cars until he threw his bag and phone at them and fled.

The robbers returned to Maida Vale shortly after 1am, selling Mr Samad’s phone to a buyer at a block of flats. The violence then continued, with Gilmaney and Thomas donning balaclavas to hide their faces.

About 20 minutes later, they tried to rob a man in Porchester Road and Gilmaney stabbed him in the stomach when he refused to let go of his phone.

Shortly afterwards, they followed a man talking on his phone before Gilmaney stabbed him in the arm without warning. Near London’s famous Portobello Road, they snatched a phone out of a woman’s hand.

Just after 2am, Gilmaney punched a 16-year-old girl in the face even after she handed over her handbag and five minutes later the pair targeted their final victim.

The man handed over his wallet but Gilmaney still stabbed him in the stomach.

When police tracked the moped down, Gilmaney took off his helmet in the mistaken belief officers would abandon the chase, but he and Thomas were caught that night.

Detective Inspector Shaun Fitzgerald, of Scotland Yard’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “The prosecution said Gilmaney and his friend Thomas were ‘the highwaymen of the 21st century’ and there couldn’t be a more apt description.

“The teenagers believed they had the right to threaten and rob wherever they wanted, often stabbing their victims for no reason at all but to prove they could.”

Mr Samad’s mother, Layla Begum, said her entire family had been “broken” by his death.

“I would do anything to get him back,” she said. “Sometimes when I am at home I think he will walk in again and that this has all been a bad dream. However, as each minute, each hour and each day goes by I then realise Abdul is not going to come back home. Abdul has been taken from us forever.”

His girlfriend, Sultana Ahmed, described him a “beautiful human being” who always strove to help others.

“We had many plans for this year and the last thing Abdul said to me was, ‘Watch, this year will be our year and we will be a family’,” she said.

“I felt like I died with Abdul that day. He took a part of me that will never come back … it still feels like a nightmare.”

The defendants, from Maida Vale, were found guilty of murder following a trial. Gilmaney previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter, three counts of attempted robbery, six counts of robbery, four counts of wounding with intent and one of theft.

Thomas admitted theft, three counts of attempted robbery and six counts of robbery. He denied four counts of wounding with intent but was also found guilty by a jury.

Thomas’s representative said he was acting as a getaway driver and had “no intention to kill”, while Gilmaney’s barrister said he suffers from ADHD and has an IQ of “barely 60”.

Both men have a string of previous convictions and Thomas was on bail at the time of the robberies.

The rising use of mopeds to launch violent robberies using acid, knives and hammers have sparked alarm, seeing moped delivery drivers targeted for their vehicles, which are then used to commit more crime.

Statistics show there have been an average of 60 scooter-enabled crimes a day in London this year, although police said the rate has fallen significantly from a peak in July 2017.

Additional reporting by PA