A drug dealer has been convicted of murder after police linked him to a vehicle abandoned at the scene – (ID 1125736)

David Odunuga stabbed Brian Edwards three times following an argument between the pair near Finsbury Park on 19 September 2023.

An investigation was launched after emergency services were called at 04:00hrs when 53-year-old Brian was found injured outside his house in Tollington Park, N4. He died a short time later.

Further analysis of his car’s movements on the night of the attack and his mobile phone data also linked him to the crime. Extensive CCTV trawls were completed to track the offender to locations, one being the vicinity of a family address and where the victim’s phone was later found discarded.

Odunuga was arrested at his home in Brentwood in Essex on 22 September 2023 following a joint operation between officers from the Met and Essex Police. A black balaclava and a large knife sheath were found inside another vehicle owned at the time by Odunuga.

During the trial, Odunuga admitted having changed his name by deed poll to allow him to obtain a driving licence and passport used to evade prosecution for traffic offences and circumvent being disqualified from driving. He claimed that a drug dealer took his vehicle from him as part of a drug debt hours before the stabbing of Brian and denied his presence or committing the murder.

David Odunuga, 33, of Rollason Way, Brentwood, was found guilty of murder and possession of an offensive weapon at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, 3 April.

He will be sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday, 4 April.

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