Men convicted over killing of Neo Graham in Wolverhampton

A man has been convicted of killing Neo Graham, a 24-year-old man shot dead in Wolverhampton last February.

Neo was killed as he was on Eastfield Road just after 3.20pm on 4 March, last year. Police officers and paramedics carried out CPR but despite their efforts, he died at the scene.

Koketso Ximba, aged 23 was yesterday (Tues) convicted of manslaughter.

We received a number of calls alerting us to the incident, which we later established involved six shots being fired, with a second man who was with Neo also being shot in the arm and foot but he managed to run off and hide nearby. A third man with them was able to run off un-injured.

Investigators soon established that the shots were fired from a red Renault Clio which was seized after it was dumped and set alight two hours later.

Within 24-hours of the shooting, armed officers arrested four people; Derrick Da Silva, Fabio Bandarrinha, along with Elie Mey and Aaron Osei. A firearm was recovered during this arrest, which was proven to have been the gun used in the offence. Also recovered was crack cocaine with an estimated value of up to £19,000 along with £6,980 in cash.

Two days later, on the 7 February, Ximba was detained in Liverpool.

Also convicted today was Fabio Bandarrinha, aged 21 who was found guilty of possession of a firearm, possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and possession of criminal property.

Elie Mey, aged 25, was found guilty of possession of a firearm, possession with intent to supply crack cocaine, assisting an offender and possession of criminal property.

Aaron Osei, aged 23 was found guilty of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine, assisting an offender and possession of criminal property.

Derrick Da Silva, aged 20, was found guilty of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and possession of criminal property.

They will all be sentenced at a later date.

Senior Investigating Officer Jenny Birch, from our Homicide team, said: "The death of this young man saw a gun being used with absolute recklessness and our thoughts remain with those who loved him and with those affected by what happened.

"We have worked tirelessly to ensure those responsible were arrested within a matter of days and held in custody ever since.

"They worked together to carry out this killing and showed absolutely no regard for the dangers of firing shots in a residential area. But justice has now been served and that firearm is off our streets."

Our teams are keeping up the pressure on serious and organised crime and working hard to identify anyone involved in Wolverhampton as part of Operation Redfox.

Patrols across the city are targeted and they’re led by intelligence. If you can help, take a look here

You can also message us via Live Chat, or call 101. If there is immediate danger always call 999.