Deptford murder: Two guilty of murdering drill rapper Crosslon Davis

Two men have been found guilty of stabbing a drill rapper to death in a "savage and merciless" attack in Deptford, south-east London.

Crosslon Davis, 20, known as Bis, suffered nine wounds to his head, back and chest when he was set upon by four armed youths in December 2019.

Elijah Morgan, 20, and Jedaiah Param, 21 were convicted of murder at the Old Bailey following a trial.

The pair will be sentenced on 26 March at the same court.

During the trial, the court heard Mr Davis was a highly-regarded drill artist, who was a member of the Harlem Spartans - a group mainly based in Kennington.

On 5 December, he had filmed a music video in Kennington and Cambridge, accompanied by friends including Elhaj Diarrassouba.

During the journey back to London from Cambridge, Mr Davis became angry with someone on the phone, jurors were told.

Prosecutor Brian O'Neill QC said: "Rightly or wrongly, he got the impression the person on the other end of the phone was being disrespectful about 'Latz'."

Latz, real name Latwaan Griffiths, was a fellow Harlem Spartan, who had been stabbed to death in July 2018.

Mr Diarrassouba - also known as Els - suggested they meet the caller to sort it out and they arrived in the Deptford Creek area at 01:15 GMT.

The jury heard that at this point Mr Davis, who was armed with a mallet, opened the rear door of a cab and tried to attack 20-year-old Morgan, who was inside.

The cab left the scene but the occupants had got out and ran back, the court heard, and Mr Davis, who had dropped the mallet, was then set upon by the two defendants and two other unidentified assailants.

CCTV showed Mr Diarrassouba trying to stop the attack, Mr O'Neill said.

The prosecutor added: "Those four armed men had murder in their mind and were intent on killing Crosslon Davis."

Param, of Norwood, south London, and Morgan, of no fixed address, had each denied the charges against them.

Only Param sat in the dock, after Morgan declined to come to court from prison where he was on remand.