Two brothers killed themselves in prison after waiting 18 years to take revenge on a man they believed murdered their other sibling.
Stephen O’Rourke, 48, killed himself just hours after a jury found him guilty of murdering Rocky Djelal, 38, who he held responsible for slaughtering his younger brother, an inquest heard.
His suicide came after his brother Jason also took his own life in HMP Belmarsh while awaiting trial over charges of assisting an offender.
An inquest into O’Rourke’s death found that prison failings contributed to his death.
The O’Rourkes’ brother Michael O’Rourke, also known as Paddy, was killed in August 2000, aged 21.
Rocky Djelal was arrested as part of the investigation into the murder but was released without charge. Nobody has ever been prosecuted for Michael O’Rourke’s death.
The Devastating Story of their Lives and Loss
But Stephen O’Rourke blamed Djelal for the murder. He sought revenge on the 18th anniversary of his brother’s death, repeatedly stabbing him near a children’s playground in Southwark Park in southeast London in broad daylight in October 2018.
Then 48, O’Rourke disguised himself as a builder and crept up behind Djelal – who had just been released from prison for attacking someone – before repeatedly stabbing him in the back.
He recruited his brother Jason, known as ‘Biggie’, who was 34 then, to collect his bloodied clothes and wash them.
The two siblings were arrested two months later, but Jason took his own life in HMP Belmarsh while awaiting trial over charges of assisting an offender.
Stephen O’Rourke claimed he had acted in self-defence but refused to give evidence at his murder trial at the Old Bailey, and a jury found him guilty in December 2020.
They carried out the plot on Halloween.
Two brothers took their own lives in prison after waiting 18 years to wreak vengeance on the man they believed murdered their other sibling.
Stephen O’Rourke, 48, killed himself just hours after a jury found him guilty of murdering Rocky Djelal, 38, who he held responsible for slaughtering his younger brother, an inquest heard.
He disguised himself as a builder wearing a high-vis jacket and crept up behind Djelal before repeatedly stabbing him near a children’s playground in broad daylight.
The attack in Southwark Park in Bermondsey, southeast London, just before 2 pm on Halloween was on the 18th anniversary of his 21-year-old brother Michael’s funeral. Michael was killed in August 2000.
It was described as a calculated and planned attack as Stephen O’Rourke, dressed as a construction worker on a nearby site and a hood covering his face, ambushed his victim, who had only just been released from prison for an unrelated attack when he was killed.
A Story of Revenge, Desperation, and Tragic Endings
Another brother Jason, aged 34 at the time and known as ‘Biggie’, was recruited to collect his brother’s bloodied clothes and take them to be washed.
The two siblings were arrested two months later, but Jason took his own life in HMP Belmarsh while awaiting trial over charges of assisting an offender.
In the months after the killing of Michael O’Rourke, Djelal was arrested as part of the investigation into the murder but released without charge.
No one has been prosecuted for Michael’s death, and an inquest in June 2001 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
By 2018, Stephen O’Rourke blamed Djelal for Michael’s murder, convinced his brother’s killers were “messing with his head”, and contacted his other brother Jason.
Djelal, who had a daughter aged 16 at the time of his death, was himself has just been released from prison over the death of another man when he was knifed to death in a park not far from his home.
CCTV showed Stephen O’Rourke searching for Djelal in the park before creeping up behind him while he talked and laughed on the phone.
Brothers’ Unimaginable Loss Fuels Their Fatal Decision
After knifing him in the back thrice in just 26 seconds, he casually walked away from the scene.
Djelal managed to stumble away before collapsing over a fence into the play area, screaming: “Help me, help me, he has got a knife.”
Passers-by tried to help before his father and brother rushed to Southwark Park as paramedics and an air ambulance arrived, but Rocky died minutes later.
Stephen O’Rourke had a history of mental health problems, and his sister warned staff at the prison he planned to kill himself after being convicted.
An inquest into his death held at Inner West London Coroner’s Court on May 26 concluded prison failings contributed to his death.
In September 2020, he told staff at HMP High Down he might take his own life, notably after he had appeared in court, and was then moved to Wandsworth during his trial as it was nearer the Old Bailey.
Hospital staff at High Down advised he should be held in Wandsworth’s healthcare wing, but due to a lack of space, he was instead located in a constant supervision cell on a standard attachment.
