‘Prince of Darkness’ jailed for 12 years

A MAN known as the "Prince of Darkness" who was cleared of murdering Pc Keith Blakelock during the Broadwater Farm riots was jailed for 12 years today after a judge accused him of thinking he was "above the law".

Mark Lambie, 30, was jailed with gang members for kidnapping two men from the estate in Tottenham, north London, and torturing them with a hammer, an electric iron and boiling water poured on their genitals.

Old Bailey Judge Martin Stephens said : "The sentences I pass must reflect the public’s outrage for the use of guns and violence by men who believe rthemselves above the law."

Lambie, of Streatham, south London, and fellow gang leader Anthony Bourne, 21, of Tottenham, were each jailed for a total of 12 years for kidnap and blackmail offences.

Gang members Warren Leader, 21, of Wood Green, north London, was jailed for a total of 11 years and Francis Osei, 20, of Tottenham, was jailed for nine years. The verdict followed an 11-week trial. Bourne was cleared of attempted murder. Extra police were brought into court while Judge Stephens sentenced the men. He said the evidence in the case had shocked and disturbed those who heard it.

Judge Stephens told the men they committed offences which "demonstrate an outright rejection of the rules of society and the rights of your fellow citizens". He said the gang’s two victims had shown "considerable courage" in giving evidence against them

Lambie, leader of the TMD gang, ruled by making people think he was untouchable. They thought he was an Obeh man - a bogeyman who walks in darkness. His reputation was enhanced when he escaped death after a gunman mistook an innocent man for him in a feud shooting some years ago.

Police say his jailing is a major breakthrough in the fight against gun crime in Britain.

Detective Inspector Peter Lansdown said said: "Such was the fear he instilled, he was confident no one would report him to the police."