Deadly team jailed after stabbing wrong man in drugs turfwar

A DEADLY team of hitmen were hired from Manchester to take down a rival drug dealer in a bitter turf-war – but instead murdered a peacemaker sent to diffuse tensions.

- REBECCA SHERDLEY, SOPHIE HALLE-RICHARDS

Leonard Ward, the head of an Organised Crime Group in Nottingham ordered the killing of a local drugs kingpin who was threatening his supply of super strength cannabis in the Meadows area of the city.

He enlisted the help of Manchester drugs lord, Benjamin Taylor, who handpicked three assassins from his own group of dealers, to hunt down the rival dealer.

But northerners, Joseph Boscombe, Joshua Agboola and Michael Mingoes instead brutally murdered peacemaker, Michael O’Connor, who was stabbed to death after being sent to try and mediate between the two OCG leaders.

Taylor arranged for the trio to travel to Nottingham by car to carry out the attack on the rival dealer or one of his associates, Nottingham Crown Court heard. The trio were chosen due to their size, sheer aggression and/or willingness to use weapons and extreme violence, Nottinghamshire Live reports.

They were deliberately selected to ensure they had no links to Nottingham and could carry out the killing without it being linked back to other members of the hit-team.

Taylor travelled from Manchester with the others to a pre-arranged meeting with Ward, to oversee from a distance the final preparations for the plan. His team were holed up by Nottingham locals, Jerone Sheard and his mother, Carla McGuire.

A meeting had been arranged for 10.15pm on November 10, 2021 where the rival drug lord was due to attend. Instead, Mr O’Connor, 31, known by many as Anton, arrived instead.