The "pitiless and wicked" murderers of honeytrap victim Mehmet Hassan were each jailed at the Old Bailey today for at least 37 years.
Leonie Granger, who lured the successful poker player to death in his own Islington flat, was sentenced to 16 years for manslaughter, having been acquitted of murder and told: “You take responsibility for what occurred for the rest of your days.”
After the murder Granger had laughed as the thugs were filmed throwing the victim’s winnings around and even stuffing £50 notes into their underwear.
Just hours earlier she had been kissing Mr Hasssan, 56, passionately at the Palm Beach casino where he had given her £1,000 to spend on the tables.
It was just one of many generous gifts before she lured him in a taxi to his home where she left him at the mercy of the killers.
Wild applause broke out in the packed public gallery as Granger’s boyfriend Kyrron Jackson and Nicholas Chandler were led to the cells.
Judge William Kennedy also sentenced them to a total of more than 100 years in concurrent sentences for further robberies and attacks.
The judge told Granger, the glamorous brunette 25-year-old care worker, that Mr Hassan’s “death would simply not have taken place” without her involvement.
“Granger was central throughout to the events leading to the tragic consequences,” said the judge.
“She identified Mr Hassan as somebody whose lifestyle made him vulnerable to robbery. It was, to use your words form the witness box, a honey trap.
“You saw he was a man used to having and enjoying a significant amount of money. You accept it was clear that you reported what you had discovered to Jackson and Chandler and planned how it might conclude with robbery at his own flat.
“He wined and dined you. Members of staff who served you told they noticed in particular how passionately you kissed him. You both travelled to his flat.
“You acknowledge he was kind and polite to you. You told him you needed to go and he gave you a significant amount of money for a taxi. You went to the front door of his flat and opened it for Jackson and Chandler who were waiting outside.”
The judge described the “truly shocking” scene when police forced entry to find Mr Hassan’s bound body lying in his blood on the floor.
All his ribs had been broken on one side and there were 12 different injuries to his head.
“The cause of death may well have been that he had drowned in his own blood. He was kicked to death not by heavy boots but by trainers,” the judge went on.
“The pain inflicted can scarcely be imagined – quite simply it was an act of brutality which defies reason and comprehension.”
Turning to the mobile phone film of the gang celebrating after the murder the judge said: “The eloquence of which it speaks of each of you is deafening.”
He went on: “Granger, without your willing participation in ensnaring Mr Hassan his death would simply not have taken place.
“You didn’t anticipate the acts that took his life but you take responsibility for what occurred for the rest of your days.”
Orlando Pownall QC, defending Granger, said she had been a hard working carer for the elderly and infirm but had fallen under the malign influence of Jackson.
A jury had found Granger, of Gillingham, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, and also convicted her of false imprisonment having earlier admitted conspiracy to rob.
Jackson, 28, and Nicholas Chandler, 29, both from Lewisham, were found guilty of murder and conspiracy to falsely imprisoning Mr Hassan in March last year.
Jackson and Chandler were also convicted of robbing Mr Hassan in an astonishing spree involving other armed robberies, guns and imitation firearms and also conspiring to falsely imprison another man.
This involved another armed robbery and an attempted robbery in January and February last year on the Grosvenor casino in South Kensington.
It was for all these crimes other than the murder that they received the vast amount of concurrent sentences.
Other gang members not involved with the attack on Mr Hassan also received major sentences.
Damian Edwards, 22 of Lewisham, was jailed for 15 years, Steven Gibson, 31 also from Lewisham, was jailed for 14 years and three months and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age although he will be 18 tomorrow, was sentenced to seven and a half years detention.