Gunman convicted of murdering young man near Damilola Taylor Centre

Glasgow Times

4 days ago

Jesse Lloyd-Smith, 20, was found by his mother fatally injured yards from their home in Peckham, south-east London, on July 10 2024.
The killer, 19-year-old Gabriel Charles, travelled to the scene in an Ford S-Max car which was burnt out days later.
The defendant, who fled the country after the shooting, had denied being present at the scene of the killing.
The case was heard at the Old Bailey in London (Jonathan Brady/PA)
On Thursday, a jury at the Old Bailey found Charles, from Southwark, south London, guilty of murder.
Co-defendant Kywan JN Pierre, 18, from Selhurst, south London, was cleared of murder but convicted of plotting to pervert the course of justice.
Five others were found guilty of helping dispose of evidence as the killer sought to evade justice.
Previously, the court had heard how the silver-coloured Ford S-Max had driven slowly towards the alleyway at around 4.50pm last July 10.
Prosecutor James Dawes KC had said: 'The S-Max passed the Damilola Taylor centre, turned the corner and stopped.'
The gunman got out of the S-Max and ran towards the victim, firing at least five shots as he went, jurors had heard.
Mr Dawes had said: 'Some of the shots hit Jesse knocking him to the ground. The gunman ran back to the car which drove away.'
The victim's mother, Ty Lloyd-Smith, was in her flat only yards away and heard the noise of shots.
Mr Dawes said: 'She saw the shooter but what she could not see was her son because he was in the alleyway. She feared the worst and she shouted out Jesse's name.'
She ran downstairs to find her son lying on the ground, shot in the head, jurors heard.
His friend, Jamie Burgess, was frantically trying to help him and told police a person called 'S' was involved.
The victim was taken to hospital for emergency surgery but he died the next day.
A search of the scene, with dogs, led to the recovery of four spent cartridges and two unfired bullets all from a 9mm automatic pistol.
The shooting was partly captured on CCTV footage although it was from some distance away, Mr Dawes said.
Ben Nguyen, 20, of no fixed address; Enver Francis, 22, from Southwark; Abdoul Guene, 18, from Peckham; Kadjo Kadio, 21, from Dartford; and a 17-year-old youth, who cannot be identified, were found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice by removing the Ford S-Max car and destroying it by fire two days later.
Kadio, who voluntarily absented himself from the trial, and Nguyen were convicted of assisting an offender.
Damilola Taylor, 10, was fatally stabbed in in Peckham, London, on November 27 2000.