Overview
- Inner London Crown Court imposed a life sentence with a 22-year minimum on Rowland, 34, after a January 12 conviction for murder, dangerous driving and two counts of attempted Section 18 grievous bodily harm.
- Rowland drove a VW Tiguan into 35-year-old Fergany Mvuezolo on Barking Road around 5:20am on March 24, 2024, following an altercation outside a restaurant, and the victim died shortly after.
- Witnesses at the scene identified Rowland as the driver, and officers arrested him later that day at Heathrow Airport with a restaurant receipt linking him to the location.
- Detectives tied the case to a May 29, 2023 incident in which the same vehicle struck two security guards outside a Barking pub after a dispute over a baseball cap.
- Police said Rowland falsely claimed he had rented out the car, a story he repeated in a June 2023 interview before victims identified him, and DI Aytac Necati described him as extremely dangerous.