A deadly team of hitmen were hired from Manchester to take down a rival drug dealer in a bitter turf-war - but instead murdered a peacemaker sent to diffuse tensions.
Leonard Ward, the head of an Organised Crime Group in Nottingham ordered the killing of a local drugs kingpin who was threatening his supply of super strength cannabis in the Meadows area of the city.
He enlisted the help of Manchester drugs lord, Benjamin Taylor, who handpicked three assassins from his own group of dealers, to hunt down the rival dealer.
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But northerners, Joseph Boscombe, Joshua Agboola and Michael Mingoes instead brutally murdered peacemaker, Michael O'Connor, who was stabbed to death after being sent to try and mediate between the two OCG leaders.
Taylor arranged for the trio to travel to Nottingham by car to carry out the attack on the rival dealer or one of his associates, Nottingham Crown Court heard. The trio were chosen due to their size, sheer aggression and/or willingness to use weapons and extreme violence, Nottinghamshire Live reports.
They were deliberately selected to ensure they had no links to Nottingham and could carry out the killing without it being linked back to other members of the hit-team.
Taylor travelled from Manchester with the others to a pre-arranged meeting with Ward, to oversee from a distance the final preparations for the plan. His team were holed up by Nottingham locals, Jerone Sheard and his mother, Carla McGuire.
A meeting had been arranged for 10.15pm on November 10, 2021 where the rival drug lord was due to attend. Instead, Mr O'Connor, 31, known by many as Anton, arrived instead.
Unbeknown to him, a carefully planned and organised ambush awaited him at the hands of heavily armed males.
The hit team were caught on CCTV as they collected weapons and put on masks. As the hit squad left Carla McGuire's home, on the direction of Jerone Sheard, she cut the CCTV feed and attempted to wipe previous incriminating footage from the day.
Minutes after leaving, defendant Paula Usherwood drove with the hit team straight to the pre-arranged meeting point where she dropped off Boscombe, Mingoes, Agboola and Michael McGuire, who is another son of Carla McGuire.
The group hid in the alleyway as mother-of-three Usherwood, 39, met Anton in his vehicle as he arrived.
Although she never revealed what was said, she was able to keep Mr O'Connor in the street long enough for her to summon the attack by sounding her car horn and and ringing McGuire.
As the hit team descended onto Anton and ambushed him from their hiding place at the top of the close, two of them; Boscombe and Michael McGuire also stopped to brutally attack an innocent passer-by, hitting him repeatedly around the head and body with a hammer and pistol whipping him with a handgun.
Anton was then surrounded by the heavily armed and masked Mingoes, Agboola, Boscombe and Michael McGuire, interrogating him as he stood alone and unarmed. Usherwood used her car to block Anton’s every attempt at escape.
Once Anton was trapped by the group, Mingoes, 21, of of Powell Street, Manchester, deliberately and calmly stabbed him at least twice, killing him with a blow aimed directly at his heart.
As Anton lay dying, the Manchester hitmen got into Usherwood's car. She took them to an address in Nottingham and then guided them to Jerone Sheard's car, which was waiting to ferry them back to Manchester.
Mr O'Connor later died in hospital after police found him collapsed on the pavement.
All of the defendants involved in the case were found guilty of murder following a 33-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court.
Benjamin Taylor, aged 38, of Monton Road, Eccles, was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 32 years. Leonard Ward, 42, of Marwood Road, Carlton, received the same sentence.
Joseph Boscombe, 41, of Rostherne Avenue, Manchester was also jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years, while Joshua Agboola, 30, of Leven Grove, Darwen, Blackburn was will serve a minimum sentence of 31 years.
Michael Mingoes, 21, of Powell Street, Manchester, was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 28 years.
Carla McGuire, 53, of Wilford Crescent West, The Meadows was jailed for 20 years. Jerome Sheard, 31, of Wilford Crescent West, The Meadows was jailed for 31 years.
Paula Usherwood, aged 39, of Central Avenue, Beeston was jailed for 30 years. Michael McGuire, aged 35, of Wilford Crescent West, The Meadows was jailed for 32 years.
Two further defendants were found guilty of other offences relating to the murder and will be sentenced in July.
Following the sentencings, Detective Chief Inspector Rob Routledge, who led the investigation, said: “Nottinghamshire Police welcomes today’s sentencings and our thoughts remain with Anton’s family, at what continues to be a traumatic time.
"As someone who was well-known and well-liked in The Meadows area, Anton was asked to act as a peacemaker between two feuding groups – and it cost him his life.
"He was ambushed by a number of masked up men who were heavily armed. Anton was unarmed and his killing was therefore cowardly in the extreme.
"Following his murder, those responsible went into self-preservation mode – hiding and removing items that could incriminate them, lying to detectives and trying to create the impression they were trying to assist as Anton lay on the ground dying.
"They fooled no-one and the guilty verdicts are testament of the enormous amount of work that went into bringing Anton’s killers to justice.
"Each denied their involvement in this horrific crime. But a jury heard the evidence and found them guilty. Today, it is important for me to personally thank members of the jury who, for 33 weeks, listened to the evidence surrounding this brutal attack."
