Hitman guilty of double murder after shooting dead innocent mum-of-nine and sleeping nephew in East Finchley

A hitman who shot dead an innocent mother-of-nine and her sleeping nephew is facing life in prison after it took five trials to convict him of the double murder.

Obina Ezeoke, 28, snuck into the East Finchley home of Annie Ekofo, 53, in the early hours of the morning and shot dead student Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo, 21, as he slept.

Ezeoke then turned the gun on Mrs Efoko when she rushed out of her bedroom to investigate the disturbance.

The killer was first put on trial over the September 2016 double murder in 2017, but the case had to be aborted due to the judge being struck down with chronic back pain.

Juries in the re-trial and a third trial were deadlocked on their verdicts and a fourth trial was ordered, but that was then abandoned when the coronavirus crisis struck.

At the Old Bailey this morning, a fifth jury finally delivered guilty verdicts against Ozeoke, condemning him to two mandatory life sentence.

The court has heard that the shooting may have been a revenge hit after footage of Ezeoke was shared on social media, but the intended target is believed to have been Ms Ekofo's son Ryan Efey. Ezeoke insisted in his defence case that he was not the gunman.

Mrs Justice Cutts remanded him in custody until sentencing on October 1.