Horace Pinnock

Horace Pinnock was shot after being robbed outside the Plaza Hotel in Wembley.

He was a DJ known as DJ Village.

He was shot about 2 hours after he and some friends had been robbed of jewellery and money.

Horace Pinnock had been with some friends, three men and two women and was parking his blue Ford Galaxy car in the car park of the Plaza Hotel in Wembley at about midnight when two armed men robbed them. The armed men took money and jewellery from them. The amount of money stolen was said to have been more than £10,000 equivalent in US dollars. Most of the money had belonged to a Jamaican recording artist who had been on tour in Britain at the time and had been staying at the Plaza Hotel. They had just come back from performing live at the Ocean venue in east London.

After being robbed Horace Pinnock reported the theft to the hotel staff and the police were told.

However, soon after, at about 2am Horace Pinnock, and two of his friends were in the hotel lobby when between six and ten men came in and there was an altercation which then went out into the street where Horace Pinnock was shot.

He was taken to the Central Middlesex Hospital but pronounced dead.

Horace Pinnock had presented shows on the BBC's Radio 1 channel and it was noted that the radio station had become more and more associated with violence due to their move towards embracing more street and rap music. As well as the murder of Horace Pinnock, another DJ that had presented on Radio 1 had been shot in his car in 1999 although he was only shot in the arm and survived, whilst another DJ that had presented shows on Radio 1 admitted that he had served seventeen months in prison for drug dealing.

Horace Pinnock had hosted the Radio 1 show called Dancehall Reggae and was described as a rising star.

The Plaza Hotel appears to have since been demolished and replaced with flats.