Armed robber sentenced to life in prison for death of drug dealer

A 19-year-old robber has been jailed for life for the “torture murder” of a cannabis dealer for drugs worth £30,000 in north London.

The Old Bailey heard how a group of men broke into the home of 25-year-old Albanian Olsi Kuka while he was sleeping and searched his home in Whetstone for his stash of cannabis on May 11, 2022.

Mr Kuka was shot four times in the head with an air pistol before he was fatally stabbed with two knives during the early morning raid, the court heard.

Reuben Bernard, from Northamptonshire, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was convicted of murder, wounding with intent and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Bernard, the last of the group to be convicted of a “determined and premeditated joint attack”, was jailed on Tuesday for a minimum sentence of 22 years.

Referring to the victims' statements, Judge Lynn Tayton KC described Mr Kuka's parents as “very shocked” by the “brutality” of their son's death and said they were “emotionally and physically devastated”.

Mr Kuka was found with ten knife wounds and four metal ball bearings embedded in his scalp.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Philip McGhee described the attack as a “frenzied attack” and added: “The prosecution believes it was actually carried out to torture Mr Kuka and force him to reveal the whereabouts of the drugs.”

Addressing Bernard, Judge Tayton said: “Olsi Kuka was a cannabis dealer but he was also a human being with a family who loved and missed him and whose life will never be the same because you killed him.”

Bernard, from Wootton, admitted going into the bedroom but claimed the victim pulled out a gun and put it to someone else's head.

He said he hit Mr Kuka in the face to force him to drop the gun before someone else killed him.

Bernard, who had a previous conviction for knife possession, claimed he was forced to stab the victim three times or was stabbed himself.

Jason Pitter KC, defending, argued that although it was a robbery it was “not murder for profit”, but the judge said this was “clearly” the case.

Mr Pitter also said the court could not be sure there was intent to kill, which the judge accepted.

At previous hearings four other people were involved in the attack were sentenced to prison terms of between six and eleven years.