Trumpet player 'hacked to death after dispute with a drug dealer'

18 March 2021, 21:05 | Updated: 18 March 2021, 21:15

A talented trumpet player was stabbed to death and left to rot after he fell out with a drug dealer, a court has heard.

William Algar’s head and torso were found wrapped in a sheet decomposing in his living room, the Old Bailey was told.

The remains of the musician, 53, were discovered by police in his home in Barnes, west London, on January 3 2020, after after his elderly mother said he had not been in touch over Christmas.

The court heard that Mr Algar had used Class A drugs for a number of years, and had also started dealing drugs.

Four men are on trial over the killings of Mr Algar and 35-year-old Ebrima Cham, from Hounslow, who died after being 11 times in a "ferocious and frenzied attack".

Both were murdered in December 2019 over their alleged involvement in the supply of Class A drugs, the court was told.

A 19-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is charged with the murders of Mr Algar and Mr Cham.

Zimele Dube, 33, of Hounslow, is charged with murdering Mr Cham.

Simon Emmons, 40, of no fixed address, is charged with the murder of Mr Cham, and with perverting the course of justice, by allegedly disposing of Mr Algar's limbs.

Another teenager, Janayo Lucima, 18, of Kensington, is also charged with perverting the course of justice.

The 19-year-old teenager who cannot be named and another man, 45-year-old Marc Harding, have already admitted one count of perverting the course of justice, jurors were told.

The trial, which is due to last for around 10 weeks, continues.

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Opening the case, Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said: "The drug-dealing world is one of rivalries, robberies and turf wars.

"And when drug dealers fall out, they do not take their problems to the police. Instead, they take things into their own hands - usually with violence and often ending in either death or serious injury."

The court heard how Mr Algar, also known as "Blaise", had been "an accomplished trumpet player" and “had mental health issues for many years”.

"He was diagnosed as having bi-polar disorder and, every now and then and for short periods of time, he came to be treated as an inpatient in different psychiatric hospitals."