A groundsman for the Prime Minister has been jailed after kicking the father of a murdered teenager in the head during a brawl outside the Old Bailey.
Jeffrey Johnson, 24, who works at Sir Keir Starmer’s country retreat Chequers, attacked Adrian Gordon when violence broke out in the street outside the historic courthouse.
Mr Gordon had just left court after watching four teenagers be sentenced for killing his 17-year-old son Shea.
Inner London crown court heard he was ambushed by Johnson and three friends, in a pre-planned attack which happened yards away from the front door to the Old Bailey.
On Monday, Johnson was sentenced to 26 months in prison after admitting affray in the incident at the Old Bailey and a separate bout of dangerous driving while high on cannabis and trying to evade police.
He was joined in the dock by Deije Underwood, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his part in the affray. A third man, Daniel Akere, is set to be sentenced at a later date.
The violent incident, on February 5, last year, was caught on shocking CCTV footage, and happened just after Abdul Yaro and Kavian Vaughans had been sentenced to life in prison for Shea Gordon’s murder.
The teenager had been stabbed to death in the street in September 2022 after attending a party in Mile End, east London.
Dainnan Witter-Cameron and Johnson’s brother, Giovanni Addae-Johnson, were convicted of Shea’s manslaughter, and were each jailed for eight years.
The court heard tensions had been mounting between associates of the defendants and Shae’s friends and family during the criminal trial.
When the day of sentencing arrived, Johnson drove to court in a hired white Mercedes and parked it on double yellow lines outside the Old Bailey.
Underwood and Akere, both 20, came to court holding a crutch each, and those items were left in the boot of the Mercedes before the court hearing began.
Prosecutor Nora Nanayakkara said there was a hint of the trouble to come when Johnson was “aggressive and confrontational” towards members of Shea’s family in the public gallery of the court.
When the hearing had finished, Mr Gordon walked out of the courthouse with members of his family and they began to head up the road.
However a confrontation unfolded as Mr Gordon passed by the parked Mercedes where some of the defendant’s friends and family had gathered.
The prosecutor said words were exchanged and Shea’s grandmother is seen putting her hand across Mr Gordon’s chest, apparently to hold him back.
“Mr Johnson opened the boot and he and Mr Akere began taking out the crutches”, said the prosecutor.
“A female made Mr Johnson put one of the crutches back into the boot, but Mr Akere pulled away with the other.
“Mr Akere approached Mr Gordon with the crutch in his hand, and Mr Underwood joined in. They took one half of the crutch each, Mr Gordon was backed into a corner, Mr Underwood struck at Mr Gordon with the crutch, he struck again, Mr Gordon swung a punch at some time, and they both fell to the floor.”
The court heard Akere used the other half of the crutch to strike the victim “multiple times” on the ground, an unidentified man stamped on his head, and Johnson then kicked him in the head as well.
Underwood was himself knocked unconscious in the melee, while Mr Gordon was left with injuries to his face and arms.
Passing sentence, Recorder Margia Mostafa said: “You were fully aware Mr Gordon’s son had been murdered and the sentencing hearing was distressing for him.
“You deliberately exacerbated the distress to Mr Gordon and his family by pre-planning this attack.”
Charlie Austin-Groome, for Johnson, said the incident unfolded “at a time when emotions were incredibly high for obvious reasons”, and he “accepts he acted disgracefully”.
“He made a decision at the time when his co-defendant was on the floor to run over and kick the victim in the head. It’s that he is bitterly regretful of doing.”
The court heard Johnson has held his Chequers role despite two past convictions for six offences, being on bail while awaiting sentencing for the affray, and also awaiting sentencing over a 2022 bout of dangerous driving.
His barrister told the court Johnson has ambitions to become a social worker.
Ms Nanayakkara said Johnson was pulled over while at the wheel of an uninsured Mercedes, when he was already disqualified, and while he was high on cannabis.
Instead of complying with police, he sped away and led officers on a high-speed chase, the court heard.
“He was driving at excess speeds, reaching double the 30mph limit, he mounted the central island, clipped a railing, his a bus with his wing mirror, went the wrong way around a roundabout, and enter a no-entry road”, said the prosecutor, adding that other cars had to swerve to avoid a head-on collision.
When he was finally caught, Johnson had cannabis in the car and failed a drugs test.
The judge jailed both Johnson and Underwood for 18 months for the affray, and sentenced Johnson to an added eight months for the dangerous driving.
Dismissing the idea of suspending the prison terms, she added: “I can’t get away from the fact this is a targeted and violent attack in the street on the father of a murder victim.”
Detective Chief Inspector Kev Ives, at the City of London Police, said after sentencing: “This was a despicable preplanned attack on the father of a murder victim outside the Old Bailey in broad daylight. The swift action of our officers meant serious injury was prevented and the perpetrators apprehended.
“Our crime investigators pored over CCTV footage which highlighted the scale and severity of the attack and assisted in securing their jailtime.”
Underwood’s mother collapsed at the door to the courtroom after her son was led away to the cells, and her screams in the hallway led to the judge calling for court security to intervene.
Johnson, from Bruce Grove, Tottenham, was also banned from driving for three years and four months, and must take an extended test to regain his licence.
