This is the horror moment CCTV captures a gunman opening fire on a beloved dad-of-two in a horrific case of mistaken identity.
Jake Brown, 23, was on an e-bike when he fired four gunshots at 19-year-old Kevin Pokuta, who was in a car with his brother, on Page Hall Road in Sheffield in the early hours of December 12 last year.
Unknown to Brown, the people inside the car are not the ones who drove at him earlier on the night as he and his mates tried to rob a cannabis farm. Brown was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 36 years at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday, December 16. He was previously found guilty of murder, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, conspiracy to rob, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, YorkshireLive reported.
His co-defendants, Lester Ramsey, 25, formerly of Skelton Close, Leon Waite, 27, formerly of Denholme Close, Adam Mulligan, 33, of High Hazel Crescent, and a 17-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons, were convicted of conspiracy to rob.
The Honourable Mr Justice Lavender told the court as he passed sentence on Monday: "Shortly before midnight on 11th December, 2023, five of you with others went to Barretta Street. You, Adam Mulligan, remained in your van. The rest went into Page Hall Road with the intent of stealing cannabis from 109.
"You Jake Brown were in possession of a firearm. I sentence the others on the basis you were unaware he had that one. You were prevented [from robbing the cannabis] when a car drove at you and you Jake Brown discharged the firearm. You Jake Brown and two others later went back with a different firearm and saw what you mistakenly thought was the car from earlier and fired four bullets.
"One hit Kevin Pokuta in the back of the head. He had nothing to do with the cannabis farm at the address. You Jake Brown didn't know him and you had nothing against him. It was a tragedy you fired up, no doubt, with the desire for revenge and mistook him for the man who drove at you earlier.
"He left behind a wife, two small children and two brothers, one who witnessed his death, and a mother and a father who died shortly after."
In a victim impact statement read to the court on Monday, a family spokesperson described Kevin as a "shy family man" who was "so funny, so respectful of his family." The court heard his children have now moved back to Slovakia. His father died in April and his mother has been unable to return to the family home.
The spokesperson said: "He was a good soul who had his whole life in front of him. The family will miss him so much. He was a shy family man but was so funny, so respectful of his family. Kevin will be loved and missed forever."