SIX members of a gang who "boasted about their criminal activity" through drill music have been jailed for a total of 41-and-a-half years.

The six men who made up South London WoolyO gang, were sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on Friday.

The men, aged between 18 and 28, had all been convicted of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life or to cause fear of violence. Sentences ranged from 15 years to 4 years.

Essex Police Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) launched an investigation after three men agreed to meet WoolyO members in Aveley, to purchase some phones on the evening of November 20, 2023, but instead were robbed of £4,000 cash.

One victim was struck by one of the men holding a handgun, causing the loaded magazine to fall to the ground. When police arrived at the scene, the suspects had fled but the same magazine was located.

The following morning, officers carrying out further enquiries returned to the scene where they found Bryan Aidoo. When addressed, he claimed to be cleaning his shoes. He was found to be in possession of a zombie knife and arrested.

A mobile phone seized from Aidoo contained a high volume of material referencing gang violence and footage of the group handling firearms and referring to its criminal use. 

Bryan Aidoo, Stephen Ayanleye, Roqeeb Ladeaga and Gabriel Adepoju all pleaded guilty on the first day of a trial which started on December 2 last year. Following the 8-week trial, the last two men, Dafe Orogun and Karan Singh, were convicted by a jury on January 29.

Orogun, 22, of Edington Road, Abbey Wood, and Karan Singh, 19, of Sandy Hill Road, Woolwich, were both convicted of conspiracy to possess firearm with intent to endanger life and pervert the course of justice.

Orogun was jailed for a total of 15 years and Singh was jailed for a total of 9 years.

The WoolyO gang were involved in a long running feud with another London gang which was played out through social media posts and videos, violence and drill music published online.

Evidence pertaining to two shootings in the Cherry Orchard estate, London, in October and November 2023, was also recovered from the device: incidents that were both under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Trident Gang Crime Command.

In the first incident, two 9mm casings were recovered from the scene but the intended target for this shooting has never been identified. In the second incident, the victim sustained a non-fatal gunshot wound to his arm.

Full links between the three offences were established, and in March 2024, all the cases were combined, and the joint investigation was undertaken by Essex Police, The Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Extensive enquiries were undertaken to locate the gang members by the two police forces, arresting the six men between December 2023 and May 2024.

They were charged with firearms offences relating to the shootings.

Upon sentencing, Detective Inspector Yoni Adler, who led Essex Police’s investigation, said: "The WoolyOs boasted about their criminal activity and came to Essex to commit further crime. They carried firearms and even filmed themselves doing so.

"They tried to glamourise their lifestyle: but it’s a lifestyle that has caught up with them.

"These convictions show that carrying guns comes with punishment."

"Guns have no place on our streets, and we will robustly investigate anyone we believe to be carrying them, as in this case," Det Insp Adler added.

The four men who pleaded guilty on the first day of trial, were sentenced as follows.

Bryan Aidoo of Whitgift Street, Lambeth, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and previously pled guilty to an offence of possession of a knife blade / sharp pointed article in a public place. The 19-year-old was jailed for four years.

Twenty-three year-old Roqeeb Ladeaga of Westhorne Avenue, Eltham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Stephen Ayanleye, 28, of Erwood Road, Charlton, was jailed for five years after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Four-years’ imprisonment was handed down to Gabriel Adepoju, 23, of Rommany Road, West Norwood, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. 

Reflecting the forces' painstaking probe over 18 months, HHJ Graham has issued judge’s commendations to officers in the investigation teams.