The drug dealing killers: How life went horribly wrong for Wellingborough school pals

The three men convicted yesterday for Stevie Pentelow's manslaughter had known each other since they were children.

Sifean Ghilani, 20, Tristan Patel, 18, and Levar Thomas, 21, had all attended Wrenn School in Wellingborough and had grown up on three adjacent streets in the town.

Thomas lived all his life in Knox Road, while Ghilani lived in the next street along, Winstanley Road, and Patel lived in Newcomen Road.

Ghilani told the court he would speak to Thomas at school and Thomas said he saw Ghilani from "time to time" and had contact with Patel in school, who was two years below him.

Ghilani said: "Sometimes we walked to school together but when we left school we were hanging around quite a lot.

"He was my best friend at the time (of the incident)."

However, Levar Thomas' mother, Christine, told the court she felt Ghilani was a very dominant character and said: "I would go so far as to say that he would harass Levar."

Footballing dreams dashed

The three mates will inevitably serve lengthy custodial sentences. For Levar Thomas, it spells the end of his footballing dreams.

Thomas had moved to France when he was 18 to play professional football. He had returned UK just before Christmas in 2018, around seven months before the incident in Little Harrowden.

His mother told the court Levar had been planning to return to France in August 2019 and had been at home so he could learn to drive.

Once he had passed his test, Thomas was insured on her car, and fatally, it was this vehicle the group travelled in to Little Harrowden in June when Mr Pentelow was stabbed.

On the day of the incident, Levar Thomas said he had arranged to pick up his girlfriend, Abbie, from Northampton's train station and was planning to buy a Chinese takeaway to share with her and his mother.

He was arrested shortly after the incident in Little Harrowden - and never made it home.

Ghilani told the court very little about his life, but the court heard him describe his habits when he was asked what his movements were on June 21, 2019.

He said: "I woke up, did what I normally do.

"Go into town, do what I normally do. Probably go, get some breakfast or something like that."

"I was a cannabis smoker at the time."

A background of drugs

When the prosecution opened the trial, David Herbert QC said: "There is a background of drugs to this case."

Both Ghilani and Patel have been convicted for supplying Class A drugs. Ghilani pleaded guilty to the charge on the third day of trial and Patel was found guilty in yesterday's (Thursday) verdict.

The court had heard how Patel had previously served just under 14 months in a young offenders' institute from the age of 16 until just before his 18th birthday for supplying class A drugs and also has convictions for carrying offensive weapons, a knife and a Lucozade bottle of ammonia.

When he just a boy aged 15, Patel was stabbed nine times in Castle Fields, Wellingborough and showed the jury the visible injuries on his left side.

During cross examination from the prosecution, Mr Herbert said to Patel: "When you were attacked and somebody stabbed you...you were dealing drugs then."

Patel said he was not, but when Mr Herbert asked why he had not provided a statement to support a police investigation, Patel said: "I was a 15-year-old boy and I was scared. I was scared for my life."

Mr Herbert said: "You were dealing drugs and that's why (you were stabbed).

"Drug dealing is a dangerous business."

Ghilani had been dealing drugs for at least a year by the time of Mr Pentelow's death in June 2019, based on evidence given by Sophie Hughes, a former drug user who organised two drug deals between Ghilani and Mr Pentelow.

Hughes said she first bought drugs from Ghilani in June 2018 and told the court: "He obtained a phone from another drug dealer. He came into the area and my number was in that phone.

"He rang me and we met and I bought drugs."

Hughes also said she met Levar Thomas a few times and said: "He would normally be with Sifean selling drugs.

"They told me at first they were partners.

"They seemed equal."

From the stand, Ghilani said: "Obviously, I used to sell drugs and Levar was my partner so he would do the same thing with me."

Levar Thomas, who had previously claimed he had been driving the others to Little Harrowden to buy cannabis, was asked if he knew Sophie Hughes and said he had "known her on occasion through drug dealing".

He said: "She would contact Sifean to buy drugs and I would drive the car."

Thomas also said he had on occasion helped Hughes obtain drugs when Ghilani was not around. However, he said he never made arrangements or negotiated prices and did not have a drugs phone.

He said Ghilani would pay him £100 a day for driving him around.

Tristan Patel told the court about his close relationship with his mother and said he was in a long-term relationship. It will be his second custodial sentence.

The trio will be sentenced on Friday, March 20.