Ex-wife among four convicted over death of drug dealer in Plymouth acid attack
38-year-old Danny Cahalane was attacked with sulphuric acid in February last year (2025)
The ex-wife of a drug dealer, who died after an acid attack in Plymouth, is among four people who have been convicted for their involvement in his death.
38-year-old Danny Cahalane died in hospital on 3rd May 2025, having suffered what've been described as 'horrific' injuries after being attacked with sulphuric acid in his home on Lipson Road on 21st February last year (2025).
During the 14-week trial, the court was told Cahalane had gambled away drug money, and was targeted because he owed over a hundred thousand pounds to another dealer.
At Winchester Crown Court today (18th May), his former partner Paris Wilson, 35, of Plymouth, was convicted of his manslaughter along with Ramarnee Bakas-Sithole, 23, of London.
Abdulrasheed Adedoja, 23, of Neasden, London, and Israel Augustus, 26, of Tottenham, London, were found guilty of murdering Mr Cahalane.
Two other defendants, Jude Hill, 43, of Plymouth, and Isanah Sungum, 22, of Edmonton, London, were found not guilty of murder or manslaughter on Thursday.
The jury returned the verdicts after 40 hours and 45 minutes of deliberations.
Wilson, Jean Mukuna, 24, and Arrone Mukuna, 25, both of Camden, London, were convicted of the attempted kidnapping of Mr Cahalane on January 19 2025, while Bakas-Sithole and Adedoja were cleared of the charge.
The same five defendants were discharged of an offence of attempted GBH.
Meanwhile, Sungum was found guilty of being part of an organised crime gang involved in the supply of drugs including enforcement of drug debts.
Jenna Said, 40, of Plymouth, was discharged of the charge and her part in the case and Brian Kalemba, 23, of Barking, London, was also cleared of the same charge and discharged of charges of murder and manslaughter.
Prosecutor Jo Martin KC outlined the motive behind the attack as Mr Cahalane's failure to repay a drug debt amounting to approximately £120,000.
She said this dealer was a man called Ryan Kennedy – with the nickname of Frost – who operated between Thailand, Spain and Dubai and was currently believed to be in Dubai.
According to Ms Martin, Kennedy became furious over Mr Cahalane's accumulating debt and staged an attempted kidnapping on 19th January 2025 before organising the fatal attack.
Ms Martin said that Mr Cahalane had been able to speak to police from his hospital bed before he died from his injuries and told them that he had built up the debts after one of his junior drug dealers had run off without paying him.
He also said that he had lost more of the money through gambling.
Ms Martin said: “He said that he knew that the man behind the attack on him was called Ryan Kennedy, who had the nickname Frost.”
Ms Martin said that Mr Cahalane had split “acrimoniously” with his ex-wife, Wilson, by 2025, and she became Mr Kennedy’s “go-to contact in Plymouth to try to put pressure on Danny to pay up, and then, to get information about Danny’s whereabouts”.
She added: “Paris Wilson was seemingly happy to give up all that information on the understanding Frost would make her wealthy.”
Speaking after his death, Mr Cahalane’s family said in a tribute: “Danny was an outstanding father and son.”