Six Sentenced for Doorstep Murder of Joanne Penney
Joanne Penney opened her front door on a Sunday evening and was shot once at close range.
Eighteen months later, six people connected to her killing have been sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court.
What Happened at Llys Illtyd
Penney, 40, was shot at her home in Llys Illtyd, Talbot Green, at around 6:10pm on March 9 last year.
The bullet penetrated her heart and left lung before lodging in the rear of her chest. She was pronounced dead at the property.
Marcus Huntley, 21, pleaded guilty to murdering Penney, admitting he was the person who pulled the trigger.
Jordan Mills-Smith, 34, Joshua Gordon, 28, Kristina Ginova, 22, and Melissa Quailey-Dashper, 40, were all found guilty of her murder following trial.
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The Prisoner Who Ordered a Killing From His Cell
Renaldo Baptiste, 39, was also convicted of Penney's murder — despite never being in Talbot Green himself.
According to coverage of the case, Baptiste was already serving a life sentence with a minimum 25-year term for a separate murder in Leicester at the time he arranged the shooting.
He orchestrated Penney's killing from inside his prison cell.
That detail places this case in unusual territory: a murder commissioned not from the street, but from inside a custodial sentence already imposed for an earlier killing.
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A Turf War Behind the Trigger
The court heard the killing grew out of a clash between two rival organised crime groups operating in the drug trade.
One group, prosecutors said, was led by defendant Joshua Gordon and was known as the "Rico OCG." The rival group operated in the Talbot Green area, led by a man referred to in court as Daniel "Jimmy" Joseph.
Prosecutor Jonathan Rees KC told the original trial that Gordon's group had been expanding its drug dealing operations into South Wales, specifically into Talbot Green — an expansion the rival group did not take well.
Court reporting on the earlier trial detailed two separate confrontations in the weeks before the murder, in which members of the rival Talbot Green group humiliated members of Gordon's crew.
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How the Plan Came Together
In the days following those confrontations, the court heard Huntley, Gordon, and Baptiste discussed obtaining a firearm and ammunition specifically to send a message to their rivals.
On the day of the murder, Quailey-Dashper knocked on the front door of the Talbot Green property before stepping back.
Rees told the court that while Huntley physically pulled the trigger, the prosecution's case held each of Gordon, Huntley, Mills-Smith, Quailey-Dashper, Ginova, and a further defendant jointly responsible for Penney's death — on the basis that each played a role, knowing their actions were intended to bring about, or assist others in bringing about, at least really serious injury to another person.
Earlier reporting on the case noted that two cars, a Nissan Note and a Volvo XC40, had travelled from the Leicester area into South Wales on the day of the shooting before leaving the area shortly afterward — physical evidence that helped investigators trace the group's movements.
What Today's Sentencing Means
All six defendants were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court, bringing this stage of a case that has unfolded across multiple separate trials since the killing to a close.
Detective Chief Inspector Lianne Rees, commenting on earlier convictions in the case, said the result reflected sustained effort across two separate trials, with her thoughts remaining with Penney's family throughout an extremely difficult period.
A separate defendant, Tony Porter, was found not guilty of murder but convicted of participating in the activities of an organised crime group, and was sentenced to 22 months in prison earlier this year in a previous hearing tied to the same investigation.
For Penney's family, today's sentencing closes the formal legal chapter of a case that began with a knock on a door and ended with a network of people across two cities — Cardiff and Leicester — found responsible for her death.
Key Takeaways
- Six people have been sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court for the murder of Joanne Penney, 40, shot dead on her doorstep in Talbot Green on March 9 last year.
- Marcus Huntley, 21, pleaded guilty to pulling the trigger; Jordan Mills-Smith, Joshua Gordon, Kristina Ginova, and Melissa Quailey-Dashper were convicted following trial.
- Renaldo Baptiste, 39, already serving a life sentence for a separate murder in Leicester, was convicted of orchestrating Penney's killing from his prison cell.
- The killing stemmed from a clash between two rival organised crime groups over drug dealing territory in Talbot Green.
- Prosecutors said all six defendants were jointly responsible, even though only Huntley fired the fatal shot.
- A seventh defendant, Tony Porter, was found not guilty of murder but convicted of a lesser organised-crime offence and sentenced separately to 22 months.
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Politics & World News Editor
James Mitchell has covered US and UK politics for over a decade, with a focus on elections, foreign policy, and Capitol Hill. He breaks down complex political stories into clear, fast analysis.
