The men responsible for the killing of a teenager in Basingstoke were arrested and released just days before his death, it has been revealed.

Olamide Soyege was convicted of murder and Terence Maccabee of manslaughter after Taylor Williams was stabbed to death at a flat in Basingstoke in August 2019.

Soyege, Maccabee and Basingstoke woman Paige Taylor planned to rob the Ray county lines network of drugs and money when it went wrong and Mr Williams was killed.

Now, it has emerged that Soyege and Maccabee were both arrested just days before the incident.

It was revealed at a court hearing last week which saw Tyrone Potter jailed for 11 and a half years after admitting to running the Nemo drugs line.

Soyege and Maccabee, now aged 29 and 20 respectively, were at a safe house in Winterthur Way, Basingstoke, on August 29, 2019 with their boss Potter.

Police had raided the property, which had been cuckooed. This is when drug dealers take advantage of vulnerable people or drug addicts.

The father of the flat's owner had contacted police, telling them he was concerned that his son's address "had been taken over by three males coming from London", according to prosecutor Mark Ruffell.

Soyege was from Dagenham, Maccabee was from Peckham and Potter had links to Kingston.

"That’s what triggered a police response in full force. They ostensibly went there to check on (his) welfare."

On the way to enter the flat, police saw one of the dealers leaving with a hockey puck in a sock. "It was crystal clear what was going on," Mr Ruffell continued.

"They went in the premises and saw Soyege sitting in the living room with Maccabee, he threw something out of the window before he was arrested."

Almost £1,400 of Class A drugs were seized in the raid. "In the living room, they seized a large sword, machete, bread knife in the sofa, axe, cookery knife, various phones, stab proof vest, locking Stanley blade and other things besides," Mr Ruffell added.

"It took police a while to get into the phones and figure out how things worked.

"They seized the drug dealing line that Soyege was working with, the Nemo line in its entirety, as well as a personal phone that belonged to him as well.

"Potter was released under investigation and was given bail conditions; they were not to contact Maccabee, Soyege, and a number of other people."

Additionally, Soyege and Maccabee were released.

However, just two days later, on August 31, Nemo ordered Soyege and Maccabee to "deal with" two new county lines networks that had set up in Basingstoke.

This led to the fateful failed robbery that led to then 18-year-old Taylor Williams to be stabbed to death.