Search: Harrison-Allen jailed
A young gunman known as Scarface has been jailed for life for the murder of a promising teenage footballer.
Richard Harrison-Allen, 20, shot Etem Celebi dead in November 2007 as he tried to flee the scene in the Smalley Close estate, Stoke Newington, north London.
Gang member Harrison-Allen, from Hackney, east London, who was convicted of the teenager's murder earlier this month, was sentenced to a minimum of 26 years at St Albans Crown Court. He sat motionless as sentence was passed.
Sentencing, Judge Phillip Clegg told the court that Etem, who was not even a member of a gang, got caught up in a conflict between the Stamford Hill Man Dem gang - of which Harrison-Allen was a member - and the Smalley Man Dem gang.
He said: "Unfortunately, that part of north London is plagued by such gangs. They are highly territorial and it is a cardinal sin by a member of one gang to trespass into the territory of another."
Judge Clegg said on November 14 2007, Harrison-Allen and a friend armed themselves with 9mm handguns and shot at another youth then chased him.
As they chased him into a close, they opened fire on Etem - a semi-professional footballer who represented Leyton FC in the Ryman Premier League - and his friends. He died after he was shot in the back.
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Judge Clegg said: "Quite what your motive was it was unclear but it would seem to have something to do with territory. Etem was not even a member of a gang. He was a very well-liked young man.
"He was only 17 and he was very excited because only that day he had got an interview as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool. You will never understand the utter devastation you have caused to his family and his friends."
The judge said it was concerning that young men could "readily obtain firearms" and said Harrison-Allen had thought himself immune from prosecution because he was confident that nobody would give evidence.
