Killer of father-to-be whose body was set on fire is jailed

Killer of father-to-be, 23, whose body was dumped and set on fire on a London common is jailed for nine years after admitting manslaughter

• Raphael Kokkinos killed father-to-be Jean Loeike Guei at his London flat
• He then set dumped his body in Mitcham Common and set it on fire
• Killer enlisted the help of his pensioner mother Sophia Kokkinos
• Raphael admitted manslaughter and was jailed for nine years
• Sophia was jailed for three years for perverting the course of justice

The killer of a father-to-be whose body was dumped and set on fire on a London common has been jailed for manslaughter.

Raphael Kokkinos admitted killing Jean Loeike Guei, 23, at his flat in Streatham in order to get out of paying a drugs debt during the coronavirus lockdown, the Old Bailey heard.

He covered-up the crime with the help of his pensioner mother Sophia Kokkinos and friend Aaron Williams by disposing of the drug dealer’s 6ft 7in body and setting it alight on Mitcham Common in September 2020.

The body was discovered by a horrified cyclist at around 6am on September 17, jurors were told.

Raphael Kokkinos was jailed for nine years and his mother and Williams were both sentenced to three years for perverting the course of justice. 

Prosecutors said that Mr Guei was killed after £40,000 worth of cocaine given to Raphael to store at his home in Streatham was stolen during a burglary in August 2020.

Undated handout photos issued by Metropolitan Police of Raphael Kokkinos (left) and his pensioner mother accomplice Sophia Kokkinos (right)

Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of Jean Loeike Guei

Bill Emlyn Jones KC said Mr Guei made it clear to Raphael he expected to get £40,000 back to replace the stolen cocaine and told his partner: ‘The man owes me 40,000 bags… The man is going to pay me back.’

Raphael later told Mr Guei he had £9,000 and they discussed meeting up but the killer stopped taking his calls.

Mr Emlyn Jones said it was clear the victim met up with Raphael at his home in Polworth Road, Streatham, on the evening of September 15.

‘Inside the address he must have been subjected to a violent assault. He suffered lacerations to his forehead and the back of his head,’ the court heard.

The prosecutor said one of the injuries was consistent with Mr Guei’s head slamming against a hard kitchen surface.

‘That left, as you can probably imagine, Raphael Kokkinos with a problem – he had a dead body to get rid of,’ he said.

‘He plainly decided that he was not going to involve the authorities and phone the police or phone for an ambulance. What he did instead was he recruited his friends and family to help him with his problem.

Undated handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of Aaron Williams

‘Over the course of a little under 48 hours, they between them got rid of Mr Guei’s car, in which he had arrived at the address where he was to be killed.

‘They got rid of his mobile phone; they cleaned the place up. Ultimately they got Mr Guei’s body out of the address, into a car, and in the middle of the night took the body to Mitcham Common, dumped it and set it on fire.

‘They even, perhaps as a final humiliation, partially stripped Mr Guei, so that when he was found, dead and on fire, his underpants had been pulled down around his thighs.’

The victim’s body had been moved into Williams’ Mercedes A Class and driven to its final resting place. The Mercedes was then sold while Mr Guei’s VW Scirocco was also disposed of.

‘Williams’ role was to assist with the clean-up job of both of the cars involved,’ said Mr Emlyn Jones.

He said that the victim’s burning body was found by a cyclist just after 6am.

‘He too could see that something was on fire, but unlike the motorist he stopped and went closer to see what it was,’ he said. ‘And so it was him, the cyclist, who made a gruesome discovery: what was on fire was a dead man’s body.’

Mr Guei was later identified by a tattoo on his right arm. 

His partner Simone Hales-Johnson, who gave birth to their son three weeks after his death, said in a statement: ‘I feel lost without him. His son will never get to meet his dad.’

She asked why Raphael made the ‘sinister decision to set his body alight’ before involving his mother in his chilling plan.

James Scobie, KC, for Raphael, said his client did not intend to cause anything more than ‘minor harm’ and attacked Mr Guei in defence of himself.

Mr Scobie alleged that Raphael was ‘a victim of circumstance’.

Sophia’s lawyers argued that she gave no ‘physical assistance’ in the crime and played a ‘limited role’.

The court also heard that she looks after local animals and cares for her disabled son Joseph Kokkinos, who suffers from sickle cell anaemia.  He was also accused but acquitted of perverting the course of justice.

Raphael Kokkinos admitted manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. He was jailed for nine years for manslaughter and four years concurrent for perverting the course of justice.

Sophia Kokkinos and Williams denied but were convicted of perverting the course of justice. They were both jailed for three years.

Benoni Thomas, who was allegedly present at the flat at the time of the killing, denied and was cleared by the jury of manslaughter.

Raphael’s brother Joseph Kokkinos and Michael Brain were cleared by the jury of perverting the course of justice.

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