Twenty-one-year-old Leon Forbes was an ambitious, confident, and outgoing young man with a bright future in the music industry. The father of a young daughter (with another child on the way), he had already achieved notable success. With his band Ghostt, he reached the finals of the 2002 MOBO Unsung awards for unsigned Black artists. He formed his own record label, rented a studio in Finsbury Park, north London, and was producing tracks for various artists, including work on material that showed real promise in R’n’B and garage-influenced styles.
Friends and family described him as talented, hardworking, and determined. He had transitioned from earlier involvement in the rave and garage scene (including pirate radio) to focusing intensely on production. He was known for his self-belief, often telling his family he would “make it” by age thirty, and for trying to surround himself with positive influences while distancing himself from “negative energy.”
On the bitterly cold night of December 6th, 2003, Leon had invited a friend over to listen to his latest tracks. Shortly after midnight on December 7th, he drove his mother’s black Vauxhall Astra out of a car park near his family home on Daley Thompson Way in Clapham, south London. His friend was in the passenger seat.
As Leon pulled out, his phone rang; he quickly ended the call. They passed a stationary car with its headlights on and a man standing in front. Moments later, shots were fired into the rear of the Astra, striking Leon in the neck. Leon slumped over the steering wheel, causing the car to crash into other vehicles. His friend, also wounded in the shoulder, fled to alert the family.
Leon’s mother, Michelle, and sister Erica rushed out to find him. They performed CPR, desperately trying to save him as he lay in the street. Leon was rushed to the hospital but died at around nine twenty a.m. on December 7th. His second child was born a few months later.
Witnesses reported seeing two vehicles fleeing the scene at speed: a red car and a silver one, the latter described as a newer-shape Saab. Five people were arrested in 2003 and 2004 in connection with the murder, but all were released without charge.
The family was devastated. Michelle Forbes, a probation officer, channeled her grief into activism. She co-founded Mothers Against Guns with Lucy Cope (whose son Damian had been shot dead in 2002) and campaigned vigorously for tougher action on gun crime, including meetings with Prime Minister Tony Blair and international figures. Sadly, she passed away in 2021 without seeing justice for her son.
In 2022, on the nineteenth anniversary, Leon’s sister Erica made a heartfelt public appeal. She noted that Leon would have turned forty-one that December. Detective Chief Inspector Amanda Greig highlighted Leon’s potential and urged anyone with information to come forward, noting that circumstances and allegiances may have changed over the years.
The motive remains unclear. Family and friends speculated it could have been jealousy over Leon’s rising success in the music industry or a petty dispute escalating due to the easy availability of guns in certain circles. Leon had reportedly spoken of people being envious of him.
The case unfolded against a backdrop of rising gun crime in parts of London in the early 2000s, often linked to young men in urban communities. Leon’s death was not linked to drugs or gangs in any public reporting.
Nearly twenty-three years later, Leon Forbes’ murder is still unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 