By Gavin Mackintosh And Ashley Young-
A victim of modern slavery has admitted to a court that he sold drugs for a gang .Giving evidence to a murder trial at the Old Bailey yesterday, young Majdouline told jurors how he sold drugs “for and with” the Mali Boys gang, including county lines in Basingstoke, Ipswich and Andover.
Ayoub Majdouline, 19, was allegedly one of five young men who drove around Leyton, east London in a stolen Mercedes looking for a rival gang member to attack.
Majdouline, a white male, told the court that the majority of the older Mali boys were Somali, but that “black boys, Asian boys and white boys” sold drugs for the gang. Explaining why he had been given a knife to carry whilst dealing, he had been “sliced” ( cut with a knife) on one occasion in Basingstoke.
CCTV FOOTAGE
Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown CCTV footage revealing the moment the gang came across the victim Jaden Moodie(pictured) on a moped, selling drugs for the Beaumont Crew, also known as Let’s Get Rich. With adrenaline kicking, they knocked him off his scooter and attacked him mercilessly.
It is alleged that Majdouline was also wearing yellow rubber gloves, one of which was later found to have traces of the victim’s blood and the defendant’s DNA. Jurors were also informed of Majdouline troubled upbringing in Leyton and were told he had turned to drug dealing for older boys to make money. They also heard that his Irish mother and Moroccan father split up when he was aged seven.
His father then died and Majdouline went to live with an aunt, then later into foster care. Despite having served time in jail for drugs and possession of knives, the teenage tearaway went straight back to dealing drugs.
LACK OF SUPPORT
He said: “At the time I did not feel like I was being supported by social services and I never lived by myself before.
“I was not getting really any money from social services – £50 a week – and I did not really know how to spend money because I had never lived by myself before.
“Just two or three days I would run out of money and I did not have money to buy food.
“Everyone in Leyton that I knew was selling drugs to make money so I just thought … to survive.”
When he turned 18, Majdouline said he got “confused” sorting out jobseekers’ allowance and after a few weeks of volunteer work, he returned to drug dealing,
“I felt I had to make money the only way I knew how to make money,” he said.
Majdouline, who is white, said the majority of the older Mali boys were Somali, but “black boys, Asian boys and white boys” sold drugs for them.
He explained why he had been given a knife to carry while dealing, saying he had been “sliced” on one occasion in Basingstoke.
“Because I was selling drugs for this older guy in Leyton and obviously when I was selling drugs, a lot of people I was selling drugs to were older than me.
“He didn’t want me to get robbed or lose his drugs so he gave me a knife so basically to hold a knife to sell drugs for my own safety,” he said