Kevin Pokuta: Shooter, 23, found guilty of murdering innocent Sheffield dad-of-two, 19, in botched revenge
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Jake Brown, 23, of Horninglow Road, Firth Park, killed dad-of-two Kevin Pokuta when he fired “four or five” shots through the window of a car he mistakenly thought belonged to a group of cannabis farmers he had just failed to rob.


However, Brown had shot at an unrelated car and fatally wounded innocent Kevin, who was in his dad’s Skoda on Page Hall Road with his 17-year-old brother.
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Hide AdBrown, who didn’t take the stand to defend himself during his trial, was today unanimously found guilty of murder by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court today (November 5). He was also found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, attempted GBH and conspiracy to rob.
Three other men - Lester Ramsey, 25, Leon Waite, 26 and Adam Mulligan, 33 - and 17-year-old, who can’t be named, were also found guilty of conspiracy to rob.
Ramsey, Waite and the teenager were found not guilty of two counts each of possession of a firearm.
Ramsey and Waite were also charged with murder, attempted murder, attempted GBH and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, but the judge ruled during the trial they had no case to answer and were found not guilty of those charges.
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The killing was part of a botched robbery on the night of December 11, 2023, after the group and several other unknown men first gathered in Denholme Close.
The group of 10 men left for Page Hall Road in a convoy made up of a black car, several e-Bikes and Mulligan’s white van, with a plan to rob a cannabis grow in a house at their destination, Sheffield Crown Court heard.
However, after parking on Barretta Street, the robbery failed after the cannabis farmers confronted the group and defended themselves.
A grey VW Passat, which the prosecution stated was carrying those responsible for the cannabis farm, drove directly at one of the group and knocked him off his bike.
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Hide AdProsecutor Mr Harrison KC told the jury: “It is clear that most of the group wanted to take revenge following the confrontation, and so they went looking for the VW Passat … they intended to shoot the occupants.”
However, it was then that Brown spotted another similar silver-grey car and believed it was the same one belonging by the cannabis farmers.
It was not. Instead it was a silver Skoda carrying Kevin Pokuta and his 17-year-old brother Dominik.
But Brown had already picked his target. He fired “four or five shots” into vehicle and rejoined his cohorts.
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Hide AdKevin was shot in the back of the head and fatally wounded, leaving Dominik to try to get them both to safety.
Police arrived at the scene at around 12.30am on December 12, 2023, close to the Pokuta brothers’ home on Birdwell Road and around a mile from the incident.
Paramedics took Kevin to Northern General Hospital but his injury was deemed medically inoperable, and he was taken off life support on December 13, 2023 and died shortly afterwards.
Meanwhile, the robbers escaped and parted ways, with Brown departing the group in a taxi he ordered under a fake name.
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Hide AdMeanwhile, evidence would later show the 17-year-old had looked up an article on The Star’s website about Pokuta’s death in the days after the shooting, as well as searching for instructions on how to change the colour of an e-bike.
Mulligan, formerly of Catcliffe, Rotherham and the owner of the white van, was the only one of the group to take the stand during the three-week trial, where he denied knowing anything about the plan to rob the cannabis farm and claimed he thought they wanted his help collecting “bike parts.”
However, the jury rejected this and found all five men in the dock guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery for knowing what they planned to do on December 11, 2023.
Brown, Waite, Ramsey and Mulligan were remanded into custody ahead of sentencing on December 16, 2024 - almost a year to the day of Kevin’s death.