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Jodie Chesney killed ‘after friend bought drug from rival dealer’, court hears

Written by on 20/09/2019

Jodie Chesney’s friend tried to buy drugs from one of the men accused of her murder on the night she was stabbed but ended up using a rival dealer, a court has heard.

The friend turned to a female dealer after trying unsuccessfully to get cannabis from Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, one of the four defendants, jurors were told.

The girl scout was attacked as she sat with her boyfriend and a group of friends in a park in Harold Hill, east London, on 1 March.

The Old Bailey has heard 17-year-old Jodie was unlikely to have been the intended target.

On the day she was killed, one of Jodie’s group allegedly tried to buy £20 of “Pineapple Express” cannabis from Ong-a-Kwie.

However, the jury was told that the person involved was unsuccessful.

Ong-a-Kwie, 19, and co-accused Manuel Petrovic, 20, are said to have been selling drugs together, with a 16-year-old defendant acting as a “runner”.

A fourth defendant, 17, was allegedly helping Ong-a-Kwie sell drugs on the day of the killing.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told jurors: “One or more of Jodie’s friends had bought cannabis in the past from one or more of the defendants.”

The court heard that a few days before the killing on 28 February, Ong-a-Kwie’s phone had sent a text to customers, including Jodie’s friend Kane Compton, advertising a strain of cannabis called Pineapple Express.

It offered 1g and 2g bags and “fast delivery all over the hill (Harold Hill) holla with the dolla”.

Mr Compton, 18, is then said to have passed the text to another of Jodie’s group, Bryce Henderson, who agreed to contact Ong-a-Kwie to buy a £20 bag of the drug.

The court heard that when Mr Henderson had no luck, Mr Compton sent a text to ask why and was told the driver had crashed his car and was going to hospital.

But prosecutor Mr Aylett told jurors there was no evidence Petrovic had crashed his car, so he was either lying or working with someone else.

Mr Henderson gave up on buying the drug from Ong-a-Kwie by 7.05pm and agreed to buy from another local dealer who arranged delivery to Amy’s Park within the hour, the court heard.

Despite Mr Henderson not being able to get cannabis from the defendant, Mr Compton’s older brother Joshua ordered some for himself, jurors were told.

Ong-a-Kwie is alleged to have delivered it personally, taking a taxi to Harold Hill accompanied by the 17-year-old defendant.

Jurors heard that afterwards he sent urgent texts to Petrovic, saying: “I need you ASAP.”

Mr Aylett said: “The prosecution suggest that while Svenson Ong-a-Kwie was in Harold Hill he must either have heard or seen something that upset him. For his part, Joshua Compton has said that there was no conversation between him and Svenson.”

The four defendants, from east London, have denied murder and the trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2019: Jodie Chesney killed ‘after friend bought drug from rival dealer’, court hears