Teenager jailed for the murder of Giuseppe Gregory

Date published: 22 December 2011

A teenager who fled the country after the murder of schoolboy Giuseppe Gregory has finally been brought to justice.

Moses Mathias, of no fixed abode but formerly of Prestwich, was arrested in Amsterdam on a European Arrest Warrant following a joint investigation by Greater Manchester Police and Serious Organised Crime Agency in June 2011.

He subsequently pleaded guilty to murder and on Wednesday 21 December 2011 at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square, he was sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years detention at Her Majesty's Pleasure.

Mathias had been on the run for more than two years following 16-year-old Giuseppe's murder, who died in the early hours of Monday 11 May 2009 after being shot outside the Robin Hood pub on Barton Road, Stretford.

Mathias admitted being one of the shooters who fired bullets into the car Giuseppe was in. After he fled, Greater Manchester Police took the bold step of naming and issuing pictures of Mathias, who was just 16 at the time, as part of a wide-reaching investigation to identify his whereabouts and bring him to justice.

Four men have already been convicted for their part in Giuseppe's killing.

Njabulo Ndlovu (born 22/02/1991) of Shackleton Court, Newton Heath, and Hiruy Zerihun (born 30/07/1991) of Lloyd Street South, Moss Side, were each convicted of murder. Zerihun was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 23 years and Ndlovu sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 21 years.

'Gun runners' Shadrach Phipps (born 05/06/1988) of Attwood Street, Longsight, was convicted of possessing a loaded firearm in a public place and possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate and jailed for 10 years and Michael Egerton (born 22/04/1988), of Buckley Avenue, Gorton, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition and jailed for five years and four months.

Giuseppe's killers were affiliated to a splinter group of the notorious Gooch Gang, who targeted Giuseppe's friends because of their perceived association to the rival gang the Longsight Crew.

Giuseppe was in the back seat of the car outside the pub and as the car pulled away, the rear window was smashed by a bullet fired from a 9mm Tokarev.

Giuseppe was shot in the head and died in the early hours of 11 May at Trafford General Hospital. One of the stray bullets went through the window of a nearby house.

Ndlovu, Zerihun and Mathias had been taken to the scene in a taxi.

Immediately after the shooting, Ndlovu, Zerihun and Mathias were seen to run across the car park and two were seen brandishing handguns. They went into the pub and then stole jewellery from a customer, leaving at 11.49pm.

The trio then ran down Ryecroft Road into an unlit alleyway, and emerged back on Urmston Lane and got back into a waiting taxi on St George's Road, which drove off.

The murder weapon was later found in a bag dumped in a garden in Gorton.

In a statement, Giuseppe's mum Samantha said: "Two and a half years ago I had a wonderful son, Giuseppe, and my mother a loving grandson. Giuseppe was 16 years old when he died.

"Today this boy, Moses Matthias, has been convicted of his murder. I call him a boy because that is what he was. He was a 15-year-old boy when he murdered my son. Albeit a boy with a loaded gun.

"On that Sunday night in May 2009 this boy, together with his two other murderous friends, who have already been convicted, went out, armed with loaded guns, with the apparent intention of committing robbery on innocent people at a local pub disco. Today the judge rejected this as a lie. When they arrived they skulked into the bushes like cowards and fired their guns indiscriminately at a car.

"In the blink of an eye they robbed my son Giuseppe of his life, his future, and our happiness and plunged my family into an everlasting life of grief.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service for their patience, perseverance and professionalism over the last two and half years, which has eventually resulted in all the persons responsible for Giuseppe⿿s, murder being convicted.

"In this week leading up to Christmas I would like to ask people to take a single moment to think about all the families up and down this country who have lost a child through violent crime and for whom Christmas will never be the same.

"Giuseppe will always be my son. He will always be my entire life. He was my best friend and everything I lived for and I truly loved him."

Superintendent Paul Rumney said: "It has been more than two years since Giuseppe was murdered and his family left with a void they will never be able to fill. He was a schoolboy with his whole life ahead of him

"That night, Mathias and his accomplices had no qualms about firing guns indiscriminately into that car. He did not care who he hurt, and had no regard for the consequences that ultimately left Giuseppe's family completely devastated.

"I am delighted that finally, after more than two years on the run, Mathias has been caught and is now behind bars, particularly for Giuseppe's family who for all that time have had to live with the knowledge that Mathias was out there, evading punishment for what he had done.

"At the time, we as a Force took the bold step of issuing his name and his picture because we knew we had to leave no stone unturned, no avenue unexplored, to find one of Giuseppe's killers. It has been a long, difficult investigation but we promised we would not rest until all of his killers were behind bars, and today we have achieved that.

"I can only hope it gives Giuseppe's family some comfort as they continue to rebuild their lives."

Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Shenton, head of GMP's Serious Crime Division, said: "Every life lost through gun crime is a tragedy. Over the past few years, Greater Manchester Police and its dedicated anti-gun crime taskforce Xcalibre has worked very hard alongside its partners to reduce gun crime and we achieved both dramatic reductions in the number of gang-related shootings, and locked away some of the main players and that has had a massive impact on making our streets much safer.

"Thanks to Xcalibre, Greater Manchester is a much safer place now than it was a few years ago.

"That is not to say though that we will ever rest. We will never be complacent and we will continue to work tirelessly until we achieve our aim of gun-free streets. As this case shows, we will relentlessly pursue those who fire guns for as long as it takes to bring them to justice - it does not matter how long people like Mathias go into hiding for, we will find you eventually.

"Our overriding aim is to protect our communities and take these lethal weapons off our streets.

"I would therefore like to take this opportunity to ask anyone who knows the whereabouts of a gun to tell us, in confidence if needed. Your courage could help us find that gun and stop another young man - potentially your brother, son or friend - from being killed."