Sabrina Moss Murder Trial: 3 London Gang Members Sentenced to Life for 'Callous' Murder of Young Mum
Three members of a London gang have today been sentenced to life behind bars for the "callous" murder of Sabrina Moss.
Moss was fatally shot in the heart outside a takeaway restaurant in Kilburn High Road, north London, on 23 August 2013 after she became caught in the crossfire of a vicious turf war between rival gangs.
Martell Ricco Warren, 23, of Station Road, Hillingdon, Hassan Hussain, 29, of Cranhurst Road, north-west London and Yassin James, 20, of Chaplin Road, Wembley, were all handed life sentences and told they will serve a minimum of 37 years each for the murder.
Simon Baptiste, 29, of Rondu Road, north-west London, was sentenced to four years imprisonment after being found guilty of conspiracy to cause GBH during the same trial.
Moss's friend Sabrina Gachette, 24, was shot in her back and received significant injuries to her bowel and her liver and has undergone trauma therapy for the affects of the shooting.
Detective chief inspector Andy Partridge, of the homicide and major crime command (HMCC), said: "I am pleased with the sentences that have been handed down today. The length of time these individuals will serve is a true reflection of the seriousness of the offences.
"Sabrina Moss had her whole life ahead of her; she was a nursery teacher and had just moved into a flat with her partner and their young child. She was looking forward to the future with her family, however this all changed in an instant.
"Sabrina Moss was out celebrating her birthday with Sabrina Gachette when she was fatally shot. Sabrina Gachette was only saved from death by the skill of the surgeons treating her at the scene and subsequently at hospital.
"This was a callous act, committed by three individuals who were willing to fire a MAC-10 and a double-barrelled shotgun indiscriminately at a group of people outside a busy restaurant. They waited until a large group of people were together and then fired at their victims.
"It is clear they wanted to injure, maim or even murder as many of those people as possible, without any consideration as to who was within that group.
"Both Sabrina Moss and Sabrina Gachette were the innocents caught up in something they had no knowledge of and no involvement in."
Moss was out celebrating her 24th birthday with friends at the Love and Liquor bar on Kilburn High Road, north London.
But, unbeknown to the group, Warren, Hussain and James were scouting the area for rival gang members.
The trio eventually made their way to Kilburn High Road where Moss and her party had walked out to buy food from Woody's Grill.
It was then, while Moss and her friends were huddled in a group, the gunmen ran forward from a hiding place to no more than 30ft away and together indiscriminately opened fire on the group with a MAC-10 machine gun and a shotgun.
Moss was shot in her arm and chest and was heard to say she had been shot in her heart, while Gachette was shot in her back and received significant injuries to her bowel and her liver.
Both women managed to make their way back inside the restaurant where they were tended to by their friends and eventually the London Ambulance Service but Moss was pronounced dead later that day.
Gachette remained in hospital for a significant period of time receiving treatment for her extensive injuries.
Two men who police believe were the intended targets were also shot during the incident.
Sabrina Moss family statement:
"She was a beautiful, loving and caring person. She had a larger than life character the fullness of which cannot be summarised in one statement. It would take and age to describe all the ways we have been affected and what we miss about her. She was an important key piece of our family, she is simply irreplaceable. Sabrina was a mother, partner, daughter, sister, loved family member and friend, her life was prematurely ended in callous act of violence, to which she was an innocent bystander.
"Sabrina was a devoted mother to her four-year-old son and her whole focus was to provide a stable and loving environment for him. She strived to fill his life with precious moments and to give him the best start in life she could. In her own words, 2013 was shaping up to be one of the best years of her life, where things were coming together. She and Aaron had just set up a proper home together and she had just completed another qualification that would have allowed her to move up the career ladder. All those plans and ambitions were destroyed the night she died."
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