Man guilty of triple gangland execution

A man was today found guilty of the gangland execution of three men. Miran Thakrar, 24, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of the murders of Keith Cowell, 52, his son Matthew Cowell, 17, and friend Tony Dulieu, 33.

The trio were killed with a Mac 10 sub-machine gun at the house in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, in August last year.

The jury took 44 hours and 30 minutes to reach unanimous verdicts on three counts of murder.

Thakrar also denied the attempted murders of two women in the house at Plaw Hatch Close - counts on which the jury has not yet reached verdicts.

His brother Kevan Thakrar, 21, of Lomond Way, Stevenage, also denies three counts of murder and two attempted murders.

Four other defendants deny charges of assisting an offender.

Family in the public gallery wept as the verdicts were given.

During the trial the court heard the three men were massacred after they invited Miran Thakrar into the house for the deal.

Drug dealer Ian Jennings survived the attack, hiding in the back garden. His mother and Matthew Cowell's girlfriend Clare Evans, who were both in the house, were stabbed in the attack.

Mr Jennings told the jury Miran Thakrar - known as Mike - had threatened to kill them only weeks before over a previous deal.

He dismissed Mike's "gangster" threats, telling him to "f*** off" and later agreed to the £30,000 cocaine deal for August 28 after he apologised.

Mr Jennings told the court he was in the kitchen when Miran came into the lounge where Keith and Matthew Cowell, Tony Dulieu and Christine Jennings were. Clare Evans was upstairs watching television with her toddler.

Miran, holding the gun, told everyone to "get down on the floor".

Mr Jennings fled to the back garden while Matthew Cowell's dog and the three men in the living room were shot dead by Miran Thakrar with the Mac 10 machine gun. Christine Jennings was also shot.

Mr Jennings said all he could hear was "gunshots, screaming, crying, glass breaking".

Clare Evans described how two men came upstairs in the house and one stabbed her as she shielded her three-year-old toddler in a duvet.

The court heard when the men went back downstairs they had run out of ammunition to shoot Christine Jennings so one stabbed her.

Ian Jennings returned to the house after the men fled to find his uncle, cousin and friend dead, Clare Evans injured, and his mother fighting for her life.

He reported the murders to police in a frantic 999 call.

Miran Thakrar fled to Northern Cyprus the next morning and was arrested on his return in December.

During the trial he claimed he had gone there for a drugs deal when two men burst in and shot the Cowells and Tony Dulieu. He claimed he was taken upstairs and ordered to stab Clare Evans.

Kevan Thakrar is accused of being with Miran for the murders but he told the court he had never been to the house.

The jury of five men and six women are yet to reach verdicts on remaining charges.

They will return tomorrow morning to continue their deliberations.