Ranei Wilks jailed for killing Jamie Meah in bloodthirsty taxi ambushhttps://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds ... e-30923442Ranei Wilks has finally faced justice and has been jailed for killing beloved teenager Jamie Meah in a bloodthirsty taxi ambush.
Jamie, 18, was dragged from a taxi, stabbed and killed in Hall Lane by a rival drugs gang on March 31, 2023. Last month at Leeds Crown Court, Wilks, 23, was found guilty of manslaughter, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Jamie's friend Kayne Priestley, and two counts of having an article with a blade or point.
Wilks was acquitted of murder and attempted murder after jurors deliberated for 13 hours and 30 minutes. During the trial, which began on January 6, jurors heard how Jamie and Mr Priestley had been using a taxi to take them to deal drugs, and when they arrived in Hall Lane, they were ambushed and attacked.
On Monday, Wilks was jailed for 15 years. Prosecutor Imran Shafi KC told the court: "The events of 31st March 2023 are that Mr Meah and his friend Mr Priestley - the victim in relation to count two - took a taxi to various locations, the final location being Hall Lane, Armley.
"Clearly, the two of them were engaged in dealing drugs. Mr Priestley exited the taxi and began to approach a customer and almost immediately it appeared he recognised individuals in a Mercedes which was arriving in Hall Lane.
He then turned tail and ran back towards the taxi he and Mr Meah had been travelling in. That taxi was parked facing down to Hall Lane.
"Three men exited the vehicle and at least one of them was the defendant armed with a weapon."
The court heard both Mr Meah and Mr Priestley were "dragged out of the taxi and subjected to a vicious and sustained assault."
Mr Shafi said: "Mr Meah, it will appear, was stabbed while still in the back of the taxi. Both men as a result of this were very seriously injured."
Jurors had previously heard the attack was witnessed by a number of people, including the taxi driver of the vehicle Jamie and Mr Priestley were in. Jamie tragically lost his life following the stabbing. Three men - Aqade Jeffers, Caleb Awe and Enham Nishat - are still at large, having fled the country with Wilks through Liverpool to the Republic of Ireland and then further afield following the attack.
Wilks arrived at Leeds Bradford Airport on a flight from Turkey last April and has been in custody since.
Emotional victim impact statements were read to the court from Jamie's mum, dad, and nana. His partner Evie - who had found out she was pregnant two weeks before his death - bravely faced Wilks and told how his sick offending had affected her. She said she has since had a son and has suffered from post-natal depression as a result of not having Jamie with her.
She said: "While it was a wonderful time having my baby, it was a bittersweet moment. Being on a ward seeing other families when I only had a picture of Jamie. The feelings I feel knowing my son will never know or see his father is devastating. Never in a million years did I believe I would be a single parent."
Evie said Jamie was due to start on a Civil Engineering course in the September following his death.
The court heard Wilks was 21 at the time of Jamie's death and had no previous convictions at the time.
Louise Blackwell KC told the court: "May I, at the very start on behalf of him offer his heartfelt sorrow and understanding. He understands to a large extent the consequences of what happened that day because he has lost a family member and he has seen first hand how that affected his own mother.
"We submit that he was very much the passive party in the car. He found himself in a situation that he didn't have the skills to deal with. He is aware he has put himself at his and his family at large at risk. He did go with them [abroad] as far as the Republic of Ireland.
"Again, on his evidence he then left them as soon as he could when somebody came with money for him to go.
"It is, we submit, of real significance so far as he is concerned that it was he that chose to come back. He came back because he wanted the matter to be dealt with. He never denied being in the car, sitting in the seat behind the driver or leaving with them."
The court heard references from Wilks' mother and an extended family member had been handed to the court. Ms Blackwell said he has been making positive changes while in custody.
She added: "This is a young man with a lot that he has to try to do to put right what happened on 31st March 2023. I have spoken with him this morning and put it to him that this period - and it will be a long period - of time in custody is effectively his proper growing up years."
As he jailed Wilks for 15 years, Recorder of Leeds, His Honour Judge Guy Kearl KC said: "Jamie Meah was only 18-years-old at the time that he was killed and he was a young, healthy man, with a bright future. He was not perfect, but kind, caring, loving and loved.
"He is someone else whose life has been taken by a person wielding a large and lethal knife who used it to cause his death. He is irreplaceable to those he loved and who loved him...
"This was an attack of all of those in the vehicle on rival drug dealers as a message of others not to do so on what was regarded as their terf. You were a part of that team, knowing what was going on, knowing Caleb Awe was in possession of a potential lethal weapon which was being carried in case it needed to be used."
Wilks was told he will have to serve around two-thirds of his sentence in prison before being released on licence.
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