'Jailed over a group chat': Use of drill music at UK trials sparks concerns of racism in justice system
The use of drill music in U.K. criminal trials is highly controversial. MANCHESTER -- Ademola Adedeji had a place secured to study law at a top university in England. As part of a charity initiative, he had authored a book about inspiring his local community in Moston, Manchester, made an address to parliament and was seen by family and friends as driven by a "passion for helping people." But in July 2022, Ademola -- known by those close to him as Ade -- was sentenced to prison as part of a gang along with nine other young Black men. Prosecutors alleged that Ade belonged to a gang, named M40 after their local zip code, who had plotted a revenge attack after one of their members, Ade's friend Alexander John Soyoye, was stabbed to death in 2020. But, according to his family and defense team, the gang was not a "gang" at all -- but instead a loose music collective creating songs as part of the young but increasingly popular genre of U.K. drill music. Ade, who was 1...