Drill rapper Unknown T cleared of killing man at New Year’s Eve party

18 February 2020, 15:59

Drill rapper Daniel Lena, 20, who performs under the stage name Unknown T, has been cleared of killing a young man at a New Year's Eve party.

Mr Lena, from Homerton, east London, was accused of stabbing Steven Narvaez-Jara in the early hours of New Year's Day 2018.

The pair had been at a party when they were said to have had a row over a female guest, which prosecutors claimed led to violence breaking out.

Mr Narvaez-Jara - an engineering student at the University of Hertfordshire - was stabbed in the chest and arm during the attack, with the blow to the chest piercing his heart.

Mr Lena went on trial at the Old Bailey along with Ramani Boreland and Mohammed Musse, both aged 21.

But the rapper was cleared of murder and violent disorder at the Old Bailey on Tuesday after a jury deliberated for more than 18 hours.

Boreland was found guilty of manslaughter by a majority of 10 to two and violent disorder and Musse was convicted of violent disorder.

Giving evidence, Mr Lena said he was "shocked and traumatised" by the violence but denied being one of the attackers described as being a young man in a white sweater and glasses, insisting that jumpers were not his style.

The case had revolved around events at a New Year's Eve party in Old Street, north London, hosted by 19-year-old Kinga Pawlowska who had employed two bouncers.

The evening turned sour when Musse began "grabbing girls, annoying people", even slapping one girl's bottom, prompting her boyfriend to threaten to punch him in the face.

A brawl ensued with guests grabbing kitchen knives, bottles and planks of wood while one had allegedly smuggled in a large machete.

The court heard that while Musse may have started the fight, he had either left or been dragged from the kitchen by the time the fatal blow was struck.

It was alleged Boreland, who was friends with Musse, "took his side".

All three defendants lived close to one another in Hackney and had planned to go to the party together, the court heard.

Another man, 18-year-old Israel Ogunsola, was also accused of involvement in the killing but died before the case came to trial.

There were gasps from the public gallery as the verdicts were delivered and Mr Lena gazed up in the dock as he was cleared on all the charges against him.