Rapper DigDat jailed for life over Notting Hill drive-by on rival artist

Rapper DigDat has been jailed for life over a drive-by shooting that very nearly killed a man.

The 26-year-old, real name Nathan Tokosi, was one of at least two people in a stolen Audi that pulled up alongside Daniel Offei-Ntow’s Mitsubishi Outlander in Notting Hill on November 20, 2023.

At least six shots were fired from a rear passenger window, hitting Mr Offei-Ntow in the head, mouth and body, prosecutor Kate Bex KC told the Old Bailey.

The victim, a rival artist who performs as Lugavelz, has recently died. The court heard it was unconnected to the shooting and there was no third party involved.

Tokosi, of Deptford, southeast London, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years having been convicted of attempted murder and firearms offences over two trials last year.

The court was told Tokosi had eight previous convictions for 13 offences, including violence dating back to the age of 11 when he punched a girl in the face and punched and kneed a boy in the head in separate incidents four months apart.

He has been convicted of attempted murder once before, when aged 13 he stabbed someone in the ribcage and was seven years’ youth detention and three years on extended licence.

Sentencing at the Old Bailey, Judge Sarah Munro KC said she was in no doubt he was a dangerous offender.

Tokosi, whose single Air Force peaked at number 20 on the UK singles chart in 2018, was supported in court by his family.

He made a phone gesture to the public gallery where weeping could be heard as he was sent down.

After the shooting, armed police arrived quickly and found the victim’s Mitsubishi Outlander riddled with bullet holes and the interior covered in blood.

Officers followed a trail of blood and found Mr Offei-Ntow had returned to his flat and was sitting on a sofa ‘in shock and severely injured’, the court was told.

Police dogs recovered a latex glove and a black bag containing a firearm and three rounds of ammunition near to where the Audi was abandoned.

Further inquiries revealed that Tokosi had borrowed a BMW to make two trips on consecutive nights from his father’s home in Deptford, south-east London, to Notting Hill that weekend, the jury heard.

Ms Bex said it was clear Tokosi was involved in the shooting and there was no ‘innocent explanation’ for the BMW and the Audi being in the same west London location.

Investigators found DNA belonging Tokosi and artist Kamal Benjamin, also known as Wesson, in the Audi used in the shooting.

But further evidence, including Mr Benjamin’s Instagram posts from Dubai, showed he had left the UK days before.

Mr Benjamin posted a video on Instagram of Lil Durk, who had performed in Dubai four days before the shooting.

Another post the following month showed him in a nightclub with rapper 50 Cent, who had performed in Dubai on December 21, 2023.

At his attempted murder trial last February, Tokosi was also convicted of possessing a self-loading pistol and ammunition with intent to endanger life and possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition.

Following a second Old Bailey trial in November, Tokosi was further convicted of possessing a firearm and ammunition on February 4, 2024.

In mitigation, the court was told Tokosi was a ‘laidback’ young man caught up in the success of his music career and the ‘fast-paced and chaotic’ lifestyle that went with it.

Shannon Revel, defending, said: ‘He described that his job as a rapper effectively became an existence, rather than something that he could take time off from.’

She added that ‘rising to success so quickly’ gave Tokosi no real time for reflection.

Having been diagnosed with ADHD aged 11, Tokosi had ‘struggled’ with his behaviour at school, she said.

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