Drug Dealers' Twyford Gardens Turf War Led To Murder
Life imprisonment for three brothers who stabbed rival to death
Kamal Sohal running across the Uxbridge Road to commit murder
The brutal stabbing of a 22-year-old man was the result of a dispute over territory between drug dealers a court was told before three brothers were jailed for life for murder.
Osvaldo de Carvalho was driving past Twyford Gardens with two of his friends on the night of September 24, 2019 when he saw Sukhminder and Michael Sohal in the park.
Anticipating a confrontation over their dealing of cannabis in the area, the two brothers rang their sibling Kamal ‘for reinforcement’. He was in his flat nearby on Uxbridge Road with Antoine George. Osvaldo had not entered the park at his time.
Kamal immediately grabbed a large hunting knife and ran along the Uxbridge Road brandishing it as startled motorists looked on.
Left to right: Sukhminder, Michael and Kamal Sohal
Osvaldo fled along with his two associates who went in a different direction. Now isolated, he was hunted down by the three brothers and George to West Lodge Avenue and stabbed by Kamal in the back and his left leg as well as receiving a blow to the head. The stab wound in his back was found by the post-mortem examination to have passed nearly the entire way through his body.
Scene at West Lodge Avenue
It was determined at the trial that Osvaldo was not presenting an ‘immediate threat’ to the group.
On the day of the murder, George and Sukhminder Sohal went to a shop in Hounslow that sold knives and purchased the weapons used and transported them to Kamal’s flat; however, those weapons were never recovered.
In mitigation the defence told the court that the brothers had received what was described as a chaotic upbringing after their father murdered their mother when they were very young.
Despite this the brothers were all given life sentences at Croydon Crown Court on Thursday 29 April with 22-year-old Kamal Sohal receiving a minimum term of 22 years and Sukhminder and Michael, aged 25 and 28 respectively receiving minimum terms of 19 years.
24-year-old Antoine George,was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment for manslaughter.
Osvaldo Carvalho
Detective Chief Inspector Vicky Tunstall, who led the investigation, said, “This is a particularly tragic case which cost the life of a young man. We know there had been previous hostility between these two groups and sadly that culminated in the events that unfolded that evening.
“The Sohal brothers had no qualms about arming themselves and – in Kamal’s case – running down a busy main road waving the weapon around in full view of all those around.
“They then subjected Osvaldo - who had no chance of defending himself - to a brutal and sustained attack. Osvaldo’s family, I hope, can find some comfort to their pain, knowing that his attackers have now been given lengthy prison sentences.
"Knife crime has a huge, terrible impact on our communities and I hope the sentencing today reflects the seriousness with which violence of this kind will be taken, and deters potential offenders from carrying dangerous weapons.”
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May 5, 2021