A drill rapper who murdered a father-of-two in a barbershop attack for refusing to bankroll a music video has been jailed for life.
Renai Belle, 30, stabbed to death his former friend Josh McKay in front of his young child, as the 31-year-old was finishing getting a haircut at Hollywood Cuts in Leyton.
Mr McKay’s mother, Bash Kehinde, told the Old Bailey there is a “special place in hell” for Belle and his partner, primary school teaching assistant Tenika Parker, who acted as the getaway driver and helped to dispose of evidence.
She revealed that her son had helped Belle when he had been released from prison, offering him a place to stay. But they fell out when Mr McKay refused to pay for a music video when Belle wanted to launch a rap career, she said.
On Wednesday, Belle was sentenced to life in prison and Judge Lynn Tayton KC ordered that he serve at least 28 years in prison.
Parker was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.
Ms Kehinde told the court a mural of her son is being created in their local community, to remember a man who ran a charity supporting care leavers as they sought employment.
Branding Belle a “monster”, she said the murder was “senseless and borne out of jealousy”, and added: “You would need to live a thousand lives to even come close to being as enigmatic as Josh. You had not right to end his life.”
The court heard Belle was being driven by Parker, 39, through east London when he spotted, apparently by chance, Mr McKay crossing the road on his way to the barber.
Belle, who raps under the name Topz, had previously attacked Mr McKay at Lakeside shopping centre in October 22, while a year before the murder he uploaded a YouTube video which referred to his desire to hurt Mr McKay.
Belle had also sent a threat about Mr McKay to a friend of his former partner along with a demand for £50,000.
“When you came out of prison, there was nothing for you, you were homeless and had no money”, said Ms Kehinde.
“Josh allowed you to sleep on his sofa, he gave you money.”
She said Belle “wanted Josh to fund your rap video, but he told you he wouldn’t give you that money. If you were serious about being a rapper, you would find the money to make that video.
“It seems he was right, you are a nonentity in the rap world. You became angry, you sent threats, he angered you.”
On the day of the murder, on July 8 last year, Belle was caught on camera getting out of Parker’s car and going to check it was Mr McKay in the barber’s chair.
They then left the scene, but returned a short time later with Belle armed with a knife and wearing a balaclava.
“(He) approached Mr McKay, and just as Mr McKay swivelled round on the chair to see what was going on, he plunged the knife into his neck and then pulled the knife out," said prosecutor Louis Mably KC.
After the stabbing, which unfolded in front of his young child, the shocked barber, and another child, Mr McKay was able to pick up the knife and chase after the attacker.
Belle returned to the car and went, with Parker, to her home where he showered and changed.
The court heard she scrubbed blood from the car and threw away potential evidence. She even went on to comfort a young relative of Mr McKay’s in her role as a teacher, the court heard, though she says she was unaware at the time of the family connection.
The mother-of-three has no previous convictions, but had been involved in drug dealing and money laundering while continuing her career in teaching.
“I believe there is a special place in hell for you”, said Ms Kehinde.
Graham Trembath KC, for Belle, told the court he was “abandoned” by his family and placed in care at 15-years-old.
Belle, of Swaythling Close, Edmonton, has accrued 30 past convictions, including for serious assaults, robbery, possession of knives, and battery.
At the time of the murder, he was still serving a suspended prison term for drugs and money laundering offences.
Mr Trembath called the incident a “moment of utter madness”.
“None of us can know what he was thinking, he certainly wasn’t thinking rationally”, he said.
Parker, of Canterbury Road in Waltham Forest, was cleared of murder at trial, but was convicted of perverting the course of justice and possession of a bladed article.
Daniel Cooper, of Gosport Road in Waltham Forest, was also cleared of murder, but had admitted possession of a bladed article.
The knife had been collected from his home prior to the murder, but Cooper told jurors he did not know what Belle had planned.
