Prosecutors have suggested a reason for the lethal acid attack
19:49, 22 Jan 2026Updated 19:55, 22 Jan 2026
Police on scene guard following acid attack incident in Lipson Road, Plymouth(Image: Carl Eve/PlymouthLive)
A Plymouth dad was killed on the orders of a drug boss to whom he owed money to, a jury has been told.
The trial of ten people – seven men from London and three women from Plymouth – began today (January 22) with lead prosecutor Joanne Martin KC telling the jury that there were three central questions in the case brought after the death of Danny Cahalane, who died on Saturday, May 3 last year aged just 38.
The court heard that he was attacked at his front door in Lipson Road in the early hours of February 21, leaving him with severe chemical burns. Though he survived the initial attack he later died at a hospital in Bristol.
In her opening statement at Winchester Crown Court, Ms Martin KC told the jury that the prosecution’s case was that there could be no doubt that Mr Cahalane was murdered, adding : “Whoever threw acid over him, must have intended, at the very least, to cause him really serious bodily harm.”
Ms Martin KC said the first question was why was Mr Cahalane targeted in the acid attack.
Police on scene guard following acid attack incident in Lipson Road, Plymouth(Image: Carl Eve/PlymouthLive)
The second was who was involved in the planning, the organising and the execution of the attack which saw him sprayed with corrosive sulphuric acid, burning his whole body.
The third was what did each of those who were involved know about the nature of the plan.
Ms Martin KC said the answer to why Mr Cahalane was targeted was “easy”. She said it was because Mr Cahalane was “a drug dealer in Plymouth who owed a large amount of money to another drug dealer further up the chain of command”.
She said that they would get to know this man as “Frost” – although his real name was Ryan Kennedy. She said he wanted his money back – around £120,000 – and he also wanted to teach the father-of-two “a very significant lesson for his lack of respect”.
Ms Martin said ten of those who sat in the dock played a role in Mr Cahalane’s death in the weeks and months leading up to it.
She noted how Ryan Kennedy was not in the dock, adding that he was “almost certainly in Dubai”. She said another man – Kelvin Asante – who was at Danny’s address on February 21, 2025 – fled to Thailand after the attack and “only very recently returned to the UK, but not soon enough to be involved in this trial”. She added that there were others who could have ended up in the dock “but whose identities are largely unknown”.
Danny CAHALANE(Image: Funeral Notices)
The ten people who face trial are:
Paris Wilson, 34, from The Quay, Plymouth – Mr Cahalane’s former partner – is charged with murder. She is also charged with participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, attempted kidnap, attempt grievous bodily harm with intent and manslaughter.Israel Augustus, 25, from Tottenham, London, is charged with murder. He is also charged with manslaughter and participating in an organised crime group.Jude Hill, 43, of Wantage Gardens in Plymouth, has been charged with murder and manslaughter.Isanah Sungum, 21, from Edmonton, London, is charged with murder, manslaughter and participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group.Jenna Said, 39, from Ernesettle Greet, Plymouth, is charged with participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group.Jean Mukuna, 23, from Camden, London, is charged with participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, attempted kidnapping and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.Arrone Mukuna, 24, from Camden, London, is charged with participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, attempted kidnapping and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.Abdul-Rasheed Adedoja, 22, from Neasden, London, who is charged with murder. He is also charged with manslaughter, participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, attempted kidnapping and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.Ramarnee Bakas-Sithole, 22, from Islington, London, is charged with murder. He is also charged with manslaughter, participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, attempted kidnapping and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.Brian Kalemba, 22, from Barking, London, is charged with murder. He is further charged with manslaughter and participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group.
As to what each of the defendants knew about what was going to happen, Ms Martin KC said that all accepted “in very general terms” what they did, but she said all of them will say their involvement was “entirely innocent”.
She said that, despite his agonising injuries, Mr Cahalane was able to speak to investigators from his hospital bed, saying why he thought he’d been attacked and who was behind it. Some of his comments were recorded on video or in police notebooks, she continued.
The court heard Mr Cahalane explained how he had known Frost since he was a child, growing up together on the Rockingham council estate in south London, near the Elephant and Castle.
Danny Cahalane has died in hospital(Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)
Frost was a “skinny white guy” a few years younger than Mr Cahalane, but despite that difference in age Frost appears to have become the boss, the court was told. Drugs and the supply of drugs to others for profit had played a part in both of their lives for many years, according to the prosecutor.
“Danny told police he knew Frost was dealing in considerable amounts of drugs, he told police that in 2023 Frost had sent him messages saying he was worth £3m and that Frost would also send Danny pictures of cocaine and money,” Ms Martin said.
Mr Cahalane told officers he knew Frost moved “between Dubai and Spain and Thailand”, adding that he worked for Frost at the Plymouth end of the business, receiving drugs from Frost and then supplying them onwards, taking his cut of the profits.
She explained to the jury the various ways such drugs would arrive in the UK and then be disseminated down the chain, with a local person not paying the supplier for the drugs in advance, but trusted by the gang to collect money and send it back up the chain, having taken their cut.
Mr Cahalane told police that in 2022 and 2023 he made Frost “thousands” in cash, and that the problems started when someone below him ran off to New Zealand without paying anyone higher up the line.
“To make matters worse,” the prosecutor said. “Danny told police he also gambled with the profits, including money that should have gone back to Frost”, which Mr Cahalane explained to police had left him “in the s***”.
A repayment plan did not work, leaving Mr Cahalane cutting up magazines to make it look like he had cash and send the photos to Frost.
He refused Frost’s request that he brought back suitcases full of cannabis from Thailand and attempted to raise funds by selling smaller quantities of drugs for £300-£400 a week.
Police later examined Mr Cahalane’s mobile phone, noting around 2,000 WhatsApp messages between January 5, 2025 and February 10, 2025 to person “X” – understood to be Frost/Kennedy. While it had an Estonia code, the jury was told that X was “almost certainly” not in that country.
Ms Martin told the jury: “What does become abundantly clear from the messages is that Danny owed Frost in the region of £120,000, and Frost was not happy about that. Danny was also clearly not capable of finding the money and he, throughout the messages, gives excuse after excuse to delay the need to hand over money.”
The messages show Frost becoming increasingly agitated telling Danny he had “three months of b******t from him” and that he had “big guys he has to pay”, and that he would have to take action against him.
The jury were told Mr Cahalane continued to try and stall, insisting he was “grabbing paper” – meaning money. Ms Martin KC said Frost messaged Mr Cahalane saying he had “people screaming” at him for the money, accusing him of having “flipped my dough when you owe me massive money already”.
The jury were shown a message from Frost stating: “I’m not gonna message you about proper p***take you’ve robbed me taking it as of today.”
At one point Frost/Kennedy told Mr Cahalane he had 320 kilos of “green” – cannabis – in a container, thought to be a shipping container. Ms Martin said that this was effectively worth £960,000 wholesale – but if sold in street deals it would be worth £3.2m, which “gives you a good idea of the profit margins involved”.
By January 13 Frost messages Mr Cahalane saying that, if he did not meet people being sent to see him in Plymouth, he would find him, adding “I’ll start throwing money left right n centre think you can f*** up my relationships”. He wrote that Mr Cahalane must meet these men coming from London to hand over the money or they would come to his home.
Police on scene guard following acid attack incident in Lipson Road, Plymouth(Image: Carl Eve/PlymouthLive)
Ms Martin KC told the jury that Mr Cahalane again attempted to stall, whereupon Frost replied: “‘You’re gonna die. You just need to die. You done me £80K. They coming up now. I’m gonna give them extra 40k to come and take your eyes out your head.”
The court heard Mr Cahalane replied “talking about switching me off, I’ve got the 46 covered, sorting for you, been long, I’m telling you I got my little girl my man is sorting tomorrow.”
At 5.31pm on January 16 Frost/Kennedy messaged Mr Cahalane: “You’ll see if they don’t find you tonight. They find you by morning. I heard you paid for a new big house. Moved into a new gaffe. You’ll see.”
This was followed by more messages: “I’m getting your location now mate”, “You violated me remember all I done was try help you”, “I won’t stop throwing money about until you get it”.
On January 18 Frost messaged: “I’m just paying someone the bill to get you done. On my life I ain’t messaging you again. I’ll find you by tomorrow”.
However, the next day, Frost sent a message at 10.13am “Close call? Mate I’m telling you they gonna burn gaffes down and your gonna die”.
Ms Martin KC told the jury this referred to an incident on the morning of January 19 on The Quay, Oreston, where Mr Cahalane’s former wife, Paris Wilson, lived. On that day, CCTV and witnesses on the street saw a car pull up and three black males – said to be Jean Mukuna, Arrone Mukuna, and Kelvin Asante – get out and approach Mr Cahalane who was in his car.
(Image: Google Street View)
Ms Martin KC told the jury there was “no doubt” they were there on the orders of Frost/Kennedy. She had explained that Mr Cahalane briefly attended his ex-wife’s property and returned to the car when the three men approached him.
He told police from his hospital bed he knew or guessed they were from South London, saying the one with plaits had “a smirk”. One tried to rip his door open as he tried to shut it, Mr Cahalane told police, adding he managed to flee the scene, with the three men jumping back into their car and driving off at speed.
Just eight minutes later, Danny received the “close call” WhatsApp message from X/Frost who Ms Martin KC said was “almost certainly in Dubai at the time”.
All ten defendants deny the charges.
The trial continues.