Two men have been found guilty of the murder of a 21-year-old man in Hounslow last year.

Renato Geci was killed on March 22, 2021, while inside a cannabis factory in Granville Avenue.

Shaddai Smith, 32, and Jason Sebran, 38, were found guilty of his murder on Wednesday, September 28. Both men were also found guilty of wounding with intent in relation to a second man on the premises, and burglary.

Members of a gang which knew the property was being used to cultivate cannabis, Smith and Sebran in the company of at least five others drove across London in a convoy of vehicles to arrive at Granville Avenue in the early hours of March 22.

Their intention to break in and steal the cannabis plants was predicated on the property being empty. Instead, 21-year-old Renato and the second man were inside, asleep. 

Smith and Sebran climbed a ladder and used a screwdriver to enter the property through a bathroom window – making noises upstairs that woke Renato and the second man on the ground below, who went to investigate.

Confronted by Smith and Sebran, the two men fled back downstairs and blockaded themselves in their bedroom.

Smith and Sebran forced their way in and during the melee of the struggle that ensued Renato was stabbed in the chest – a wound that would prove to be fatal.

As Smith and Sebran fled a neighbour who had heard the commotion witnessed the vehicles leaving the scene and called police.

On arrival officers found Renato unconscious in the kitchen of the house and performed CPR until paramedics arrived, but despite all their efforts, the 21-year-old died.

An investigation was launched and the vehicles quickly identified, one of which traced back to Sebran.

Painstaking work by police tracked the vehicle to a rendezvous point in Redbridge where a vehicle belonging to Smith was located.

Mobile phones attributed to the pair showed that in the hours prior to the murder they moved in unison from Redbridge to Hounslow. These phone numbers ceased to be used almost immediately after the attack in Granville Avenue.

A forensic examination of the house yielded a DNA match for Smith, who had been injured in the fight, meanwhile the second man attacked alongside Renato provided an account to police, describing distinctive tattoos on the upper arms of one of the attackers which were remarkably similar to those on Sebran.

Both men were arrested, after which they insisted to police that while conducting the burglary they did not intend to cause any harm to those found inside the property. However evidence gathered by police and put before the court showed that both men were prepared to resort to lethal violence if required to do so.

Detective Inspector Garth Hall from Specialist Crime South who led the investigation said: "Smith and Sebran's claims that they believed the house they were entering was empty and that their intention was only to steal cannabis plants have been disproved by the jury.

"Both men had ample opportunity to leave the property when they found Renato and another man inside; however – they were driven by greed and the profit they saw they could make from stealing the cannabis plants. 

"They decided to attack Renato, using lethal force as they overpowered him, and causing multiple injuries to their second victim before fleeing empty handed.

"Thanks to a detailed and comprehensive investigation by detectives, both men were identified and arrested. The weight of evidence against them left the jury in little doubt as to their guilt."