Three teenagers have been jailed for the brutal killing of a homeless man near London's King's Cross station, in a case police say highlights the 'ruthless brutality of county lines gangs'.
A Fatal Attack Over Stolen Drugs
The court heard how Jaidee Bingham, 18, known as 'Ghost', led the attack on 51-year-old Anthony Marks on 10 August 2024. The violence was meted out as a 'punishment' after crack cocaine was apparently stolen from a young female drug runner working for Bingham's line.
Bingham, with the help of Eymaiyah Lee Bradshaw-McKoy, 18, and Mia Campos-Jorge, 19, chased Mr Marks towards McGlynn's pub. After Mr Marks fell to the floor, Bingham struck him twice over the head with a glass bottle, causing a fatal brain injury.
CCTV audio captured voices shouting: "Hit him again. Kick kicking. Do it again. Have you learned your lesson yet?"
Callous Celebration and Missed Opportunities
In a stark display of indifference, the group were recorded laughing and singing in a car shortly after the assault. Bingham was heard stating: "We messed up a man today." The Met Police later used selfies the teens took together to place them at the crime scene.
Mr Marks, a Class A drug user, stumbled into King's Cross station bleeding from his head just before 6am. He was taken to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington in a critical condition. A CT scan revealed a brain bleed on top of a pre-existing injury.
Despite being discharged and transferred to prison on 13 August 2024 for a licence breach, his condition deteriorated. He complained of headaches and slurred speech in custody but was not referred for another scan. On 29 August 2024, he suffered a seizure and underwent emergency surgery at King's College Hospital, where he died on 14 September 2024.
Prosecutor Hugh Davies KC acknowledged 'some missed opportunities' for medical intervention, but stressed Mr Marks would not have died had he not been assaulted.
Sentencing and Police Condemnation
At the Old Bailey on Monday 5 January 2026, Judge Mark Dennis KC sentenced Bingham, of Dagenham, to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years for murder. Bradshaw-McKoy, from Brixton, received 47 months in custody, and Campos-Jorge, from Tottenham, was handed 42 months, both for manslaughter.
The judge said Bingham alone elevated the incident by choosing to use the bottle, inflicting 'severe violence and fatal injury'.
Detective Inspector Jim Barry of the Met Police said the 'callous murder' was shocking due to the perpetrators' youth, but that this did not excuse their actions as part of a drug line bringing fear to London's streets. "They believed they had escaped justice, even posing for selfies together and laughing about what they had done," he said.
