Two men in a South London-based gang have had their sentences increased after the Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP referred the case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
The court heard details of the ‘WoolyO’ gang operating in Woolwich, South London. The gang were involved in a long running feud with another London gang which was played out through social media posts and videos, violence and drill music published online.
Essex Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and by the Metropolitan Police Trident Crime Command launched investigations into the WoolyO gang after three men agreed to meet WoolyO members in Aveley, Essex, to purchase some phones on the evening of Monday 20 November 2023.
However, the men were robbed of £4,000 cash and one victim was struck by one of the gang members holding a handgun, causing the loaded magazine to fall to the ground. When officers arrived at the scene, the suspects had gone but the same magazine was found.
The following morning, officers carrying out further enquiries returned to the scene where they located gang member Bryan Aidoo (19). He was found to be in possession of a zombie knife and arrested.
A mobile phone seized from Aidoo contained a high volume of criminal material referencing gang violence. This included a video, featuring a fellow associate of the gang, Roqeeb Ladeaga (23), where bullets were assigned to named individuals from other London gangs.
Messages were found celebrating the shooting of a rival gang member, discussing how to retrieve the handgun magazine lost at the robbery, and pressurising the victim of the robbery to withdraw his support for the prosecution. Footage showed the group handling firearms and referring to its criminal use.
The Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP said
This was a ruthless gang who boasted about their criminal activities online, while using dangerous weapons to terrorise and threaten our communities.
I would like to commend the police for their comprehensive investigations and I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to increase Roqeeb Ladeaga and Bryan Aidoo sentences.”
Detective Inspector Yoni Adler, Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said “In upholding the law, justice must be served – especially when firearms are involved.
We must demand accountability from those who threaten the safety of our communities. This hearing was not to debate the facts of the case. Those have been established in a court of law previously.
Instead, the appeal court has upheld the view that the original sentence was unduly lenient and therefore, the consequence of the defendants’ actions deserved a more fitting sentence, one that greater reflects the seriousness of the crime.
We have worked with the Crown Prosecution Service so that together we gain the public’s trust and confidence in our abilities to solve serious crimes and suitably sentence perpetrators, to ensure the integrity of our justice procedures.
Today, when the safety of our country’s streets is threatened by those armed with firearms, this new result ensures that justice is not only done—but is seen to be done.”
On 28 March 2025 at Basildon Crown Court, Roqeeb Ladeaga was sentenced for four years and six months imprisonment for conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and Bryan Aidoo for four years for conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and six months concurrent for possession of a bladed article.
On 20 June 2025, Ladeaga’s sentence was increased to five years and Aidoo’s sentence was increased to five years and nine months concurrent for the bladed article charge.
