Man expecting Sex Party was Gagged & Beaten in ‘Honeytrap’ Killing

A man was gagged, robbed and beaten to death in his own home after being set up in a ‘honeytrap’ plot.

Prosecutor Charlotte Newell KC said that on the morning of January 23, 2023, a neighbour saw Vishal Gohel’s front door was ajar and the kitchen light was on.

When he returned to the second floor of flats on Bushey High Street, Hertfordshire at 10 pm, he saw the door was still open and decided to check.

The neighbour knocked on the door and went in to make a “horrifying discovery”.

Ms Newell explained: “Mr Gohel was lifeless on the floor of the bedroom.

“Gaffer tape was round the lower part of his face. A post-mortem examination found he had suffered a significant blow or blows to the head.

“Both sides of his face were injured. There was internal bruising to his scalp, eyes and jaw.

“There was brain damage and his voice box had been fractured, consistent with squeezing of the neck.”

The flat had been tidied in an effort to clean the scene. Mr Gohel’s iPhone and iWatch had been taken.

Ms Newell said: “No attempts had been made to contact the emergency services, but there had been efforts had been made to clean the flat.

“He was dead or dying when they left the flat. There was no attempt to provide assistance to him.”

Mr Gohel had been in contact with Yarley Georgia Bruce-Annan on January 22 on Craigslist.

He had borrowed £100 from his mother and withdrew another £100 before buying drinks, cigarettes and condoms for the ‘sex party’.

Bruce-Annan, Faith Hoppie and Tiana Edwards Hancock had left Barking in a cab and arrived in Bushey at 1 am.

Mr Gohel was expecting to have sex with the women when they arrived at his home.

However, it turned out to be a honeytrap and their male accomplices arrived to rob Mr Gohel.

Ms Newell said:

“It was the culmination of a plan that had been brewing throughout the day.”

Giving evidence, Brandon Browne told jurors he had gone to the flat to steal from – not harm – Mr Gohel.

He said: “[Bruce-Annan] was talking about a male she met online, and they were going there for some sort of sex party. He was divorced.

“My understanding was that Mr Gohel was going to be occupied with the females while we were stealing.”

He told the court he believed the theft would be worth “over 30 grand”.

At St Albans Crown Court, Tevin Leslie, aged 23, of Brixton, London was convicted of murder. He had admitted conspiracy to rob.

Sakeen Gordon, aged 22, of Uxbridge Road, Ealing was convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob.

Brandon Browne, aged 22, of Laburnham Road, Rochester, Kent was found not guilty of murder but convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.

Yarley Georgia Bruce-Annan, aged 22, of Barking, was convicted of murder and had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob.

Faith Hoppie, aged 22, of Barking, was found not guilty of murder but convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.

Tiana Edwards Hancock, aged 20, of Barking, was cleared of murder, manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.

Judge Richard Foster remanded the three men and two women in custody for sentencing on September 26, 2023.