Yesterday three men were convicted at The Old Bailey of the murder of Leroy Burnett.

Colliston Edwards, 38, of no fixed abode and Andre Johnson, 24, of no fixed abode, were both found guilty of murder. Max Walters, 20, of no fixed abode was found guilty of arson with intent and assisting an offender.

A murder investigation was launched after police were alerted at 03.16hrs on Saturday 13 November 2010 to an explosion on the Westbury
Estate in Wandsworth.

Officers and the London Fire Brigade attended 29A Crichton Street which was on fire and appeared to
be the source of the explosion. The force of the blast destroyed much of the property and blew the lounge wall across the road.

Inside the address the lifeless body of the occupant, Mr Leroy Burnett, 43, was found. He had been shot in the head with a shotgun. Two petrol cans thought to have been used to start the fire were also found within the rubble left by the lounge wall.

During the trial the jury heard that Mr Burnett sold drugs on behalf of Edwards and Johnson and was murdered when they discovered he was using drugs he was supposed to be selling and was therefore in debt to them. Walters was drafted in after the murder to set fire to the property in order to destroy any evidence.

Mr Burnett was last seen on Friday 12 November at about 20:00hrs, walking his brown Staffordshire terrier dog in Wandsworth Road, SW8. It is thought he was murdered shortly afterwards.

Detective Inspector Nigel Tolson, Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: "Leroy Burnett was executed in his own home by men who thought they could cover up their crime by setting fire to his property. Unfortunately for them detectives were able to gather the evidence required to bring charges and bring them to court so that the jury to find them guilty of murder."

Edwards, Johnson and Walters will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on May 4th 2012.