A gang of laughing robbers have been jailed for life for fatally stabbing a Greek tourist after he visited a multimillion-pound party mansion linked to an OnlyFans star.
Antonis Antoniadis, 26, was targeted and followed upon leaving 32 Portland Place nightclub, in Marylebone, west London. The venue, owned by Edward “Fast Eddie” Davenport, came to recent public attention when it hosted OnlyFans personality Bonnie Blue in her attempt to sleep with more than 1,000 men in 12 hours.
Five young men, from Camden, north London, were handed life sentences with minimum terms of between 22 years and 28 years after being found guilty of murder and conspiracy to rob the victim’s Lacoste bag and other possessions.
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Shian Johnson, 26, will have to serve at least 28 years before he is eligible for parole. Sofian Alliche, 20, was handed at least 25 years; his 18-year-old brother Amin Alliche was given 22 years; Joshua McCorquodale, 21, was given 26 years; and Alfie Hipple, 18, was detained with a minimum term of 23 years.
Before they were sentenced, there was laughter in the dock when a man in the public gallery shouted out: “This is bullshit, it’s corrupt. Keep you heads up, don’t let the system break you.”
Judge Rebecca Trowler KC warned against further outbursts, telling the defendants: “I am observing the majority of you – not all – laughing and demonstrating complete failure to respect this process and indeed the damage you have caused.”
Judge Trowler said statements by the victim’s grieving family and friends outlined their “unimaginable distress”. The judge said: “By all accounts Antonis was a kind, caring, loving, funny and sociable young man described by his friends in particular as a true gentleman.
“Antonis was plainly deeply loved and his death has taken a heavy toll on his family in different ways as well as his friends.”
She said the murder was particularly serious because it was committed during the course of a robbery with knives.
Mr Antoniadis’s parents Stella and Yiannis said in a statement: “The loss of our child, so unjust and inhumane, has left us devastated. There is nothing worse in the world than losing your child, especially in the sudden and horrific way that this happened to our Antonis.
“As for us, as you can imagine, we have sunk deep into grieving and sorrow. The wound that has opened in our life is very big and I don’t think it will ever heal for us, as parents.
“Justice is very important for our child’s vindication but especially to prevent other parents from finding themselves in our tragic position. It is also very important for our societies that need young, honest and decent people.”
The court heard how Greek printing firm office worker Mr Antoniadis had come on holiday to London for a week with two friends called Tia and Maria. They ended up at the 32 Portland Place nightclub in Marylebone in the early hours of last July 7, jurors were told.
On the evening before the murder, the robbers followed a yellow Lamborghini and a Mercedes car before fixing on the victim, who was carrying a Lacoste man bag and wearing a designer Versace watch.
Mr Antoniadis and his friends did not leave Portland Place until after 8am and had booked an Uber to get back to another friend’s address in New Cross, south-east London, where they were staying.
The tourists had no idea that the young men hanging around outside the nightclub in a stolen car were on the lookout for someone to rob. The defendants tailed the victim’s Uber car for more than half an hour to its destination on the opposite side of London, the court heard.
As one of Mr Antoniadis’s friends struggled to find the door key upon arriving at the address, he was approached by four figures in hoods and balaclavas. The fifth member of the gang acted as the getaway driver, jurors were told.
Mr Antoniadis managed to hit one of the robbers with a brandy bottle as the group tried to grab his man bag.
Judge Trowler said that the victim had “bravely” tried to protect his “terrified” friends Tia and Maria and ward off the attack. He was then punched and kicked and stabbed in the chest and thigh, severing his femoral artery.
The attackers, at least two of whom were carrying large knives, fled the scene in the getaway car, leaving the victim bleeding heavily. Mr Antoniadis was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries on July 21 last year.
Judge Trowler said that whoever inflicted the fatal stab wound to the thigh, all five of the defendants had “acted as a team” that night.
The car used by the robbers – a stolen Kia Sportage with false number plates – was captured on CCTV and the defendants were also linked through cell site data.
Within days of the murder, Johnson and his girlfriend had taken a flight to Cancun in Mexico and booked into an all-inclusive hotel resort and spa. They failed to return on their scheduled flight back to Gatwick on July 24.
Four days later, police were waiting at Gatwick airport and they boarded a flight that arrived from Madrid to arrest Johnson on suspicion of murder. Johnson had a previous conviction for possessing a knife in Camden High Street in 2015, and a machete and balaclava were found at his home.
McCorquodale had convictions in 2022 for conspiracy to rob and robbery relating to mobile phone snatching and trying to take an electric bicycle with an accomplice. When police searched his home they found a machete, a Zombie knife and two balaclavas.
Sofian Alliche had a previous conviction for robbing a man on Regent’s Canal towpath in 2019.
In a search of the Alliche brothers’ home, officers seized two balaclavas, a Louis Vuitton man bag, a large sword and drug paraphernalia.
Hipple had a conviction in 2022 for possessing an offensive weapon in public after police found with a knife in a sheath tucked into his waistband.
He also had a conviction for afray after he set upon a young man at a football match.
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