On the night of Friday, April 19th, 2002, twenty-year-old Jade Steven Alleyne headed out for what should have been an ordinary evening of music and dancing at the Litten Tree pub in Lymington Avenue, Wood Green, north London. Instead, it became the scene of a shocking murder that remains unsolved more than two decades later.
The Litten Tree, located at Unit 8, 88-96 High Road, was hosting a hip-hop dance night that drew a large crowd; more than 300 people packed into the venue. Just before midnight, a scuffle erupted on the dance floor between Jade and a group of young men. The altercation quickly escalated, and amid the chaos, Jade was shot in the neck. He collapsed on the dance floor as panicked clubgoers fled the scene.
Emergency services arrived shortly before midnight. Jade, who lived in Comber Close, Cricklewood, was rushed to North Middlesex Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around seven twenty a.m. the following morning.
The venue remained closed for a period while investigations continued. Police, led by Detective Chief Inspector Julian Headon of Operation Trident (the Metropolitan Police’s then-specialist unit targeting gun crime in London’s Black communities), appealed for witnesses.
Officers were particularly keen to speak with a woman who had attempted to revive Jade immediately after the shooting. They also sought information about a group of vehicles seen speeding away from the pub shortly afterwards. Hundreds of people had been present, yet gathering reliable accounts proved challenging in the immediate panic.
Within days, arrests were made. On April 25th, 2002, nineteen-year-old Teon Chung of Jack Bennett Way, Wood Green, and nineteen-year-old Tamara Roberts of Lockhurst Street, Clapton, appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court charged with possession of firearms and ammunition. However, these charges related to the broader investigation rather than directly resulting in a murder conviction for Jade Alleyne’s killing.
Despite early leads and significant media coverage at the time, the murder of Jade Steven Alleyne has never been solved.
Crime Immemorial 