Gabriel Charles, 20, has been locked up for life with a minimum of 28 years for the cold-blooded murder of Jesse Lloyd-Smith. Jesse was shot in the head in a Peckham alley near the Damilola Taylor Centre on July 10, 2024—just yards from his own home.
Execution-style killing planned to the last detail
Judge Patrick Field KC slammed the murder as a “planned and premeditated execution.” Charles didn’t act alone or on impulse, the court was told.
“This involved obtaining a stolen vehicle with fake number plates, getting hold of a firearm and ammo, and carrying out surveillance to track Jesse’s movements. I am sure you, Gabriel Charles, took part in that surveillance,” the judge said.
It’s unclear if Charles pulled the trigger or was the getaway driver, but the judge said it “may not matter” as both roles aimed to kill.
Accomplices get jail for cover-up
- Kywan JN Pierre, 19, sentenced to three years
- Ben Nguyen, 20, handed five years for assisting an offender
- Unnamed 17-year-old detained for two years
- Abdoul Guene, 19, locked up for two years
- Enver Francis, 22, jailed for four years for leading the cover-up attempt
These five were convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice following an angry reaction from the public gallery as sentences were read.
The deadly day: how Jesse was gunned down
The court heard a silver Ford S-Max, driven by Charles or an accomplice, crept slowly down the alley shortly before 5pm. The gunman jumped out, fired at least five shots as he sprinted toward Jesse, striking him and knocking him down.
Jesse’s mother, Ty Lloyd-Smith, heard the gunfire from their flat nearby. Terrified, she ran out calling for Jesse only to find him bleeding on the ground. Her friend Jamie Burgess tried desperately to help before Jesse died in hospital the next day.
Spent cartridges and bullets from a 9mm automatic pistol were recovered close to the scene, which CCTV captured in distant shots.
Justice for Peckham’s lost youth
Judge Field praised Jesse’s family for their “fortitude and quiet dignity” through the harrowing trial and condemned the “ignorant, unfeeling and disrespectful” behaviour of the defendants in court.
Charles’ deadly attack is the latest tragic chapter in Peckham’s troubled history, recalling the fatal stabbing of Damilola Taylor, 10, in 2000—near the same landmark that bears his name.
