Men given life terms after woman shot dead at wake

Two men have been jailed for life for murdering a woman who was shot in a drive-by attack outside a wake in north-west London.

Mother-of-two Michelle Sadio had been at the River of Life Pentecostal Church in Willesden on 14 December 2024 when a car approached and four shots were fired at a group of mourners. Sadio, 44, died at the scene.

At the Old Bailey, Perry Allen-Thomas, 27, was handed a minimum term of 38 years and 20-year-old Amir Salem was given 26 years.

Sentencing them, Mrs Justice McGowan said "a murder was intended and planned" and that the men had been part of a "terrifying tragedy".

In a victim impact statement read out in court, the murder victim's widower Jean Marie Sadio described her as "the pillar" of his family who had the "biggest and loudest laugh".

"She was the friend and partner you wished to have in your life. I know that half of me has gone. I am broken and will never be the same man again."

He also said that their two children reminded him of "the best" of Michelle and that they "ask for her perfume so they can still smell her".

A victim impact statement was also read out on behalf of Sadio's father, who said that his daughter was "a brilliant mother, a leader and incredibly intelligent" but added that their lives "had crumbled".

Sadio had gone to the wake, mainly attended by members of the Ghanaian community, to honour the life of 80-year-old Dianne Boatong who had died 10 days earlier.

Children as young as five were in the crowd at the time of the shooting, in which two men were injured. Kenneth Amoah was left paralysed below the waist and Kadeem Francis received a foot injury.

During the trial, the jury was told that the attack was gang-related and the intended target was a rapper known as "Toxic".

Salem was seen on CCTV buying petrol for the stolen car which was driven on false number-plates and used to carry out the shooting. The car was later set alight.

Jurors were told that Allen-Thomas had recruited younger members of a gang to carry out the shooting and was deliberately not present when it happened.

It is not known who pulled the trigger. Two other men fled the country after the attack and remain at large.

Shaquille Sutherland and Tahjin Sommersall, who were also on trial for their alleged involvement in the attack, were cleared of any wrongdoing.