A gypsy shot a fellow traveller in the head with a

A gypsy shot a fellow traveller in the head with a 16-bore shotgun at a show-down with a bitter family rival, the Old Bailey heard today (TUE).

Leonard Chambers jnr, 28, pulled out the weapon in a confrontation with David Stacey, 53, in a layby near Epsom racecourse.

He fired the gun into the victim’s face after Mr Stacey had battered his father Leonard senior with a truncheon, it is claimed.

Mr Stacey died 40 hours later from wounds caused by pellets entering his forehead.

The Chambers father and son then push-started their vehicle in a frantic bid to escape the scene.

Prosecutor Sir John Nutting, QC, said Mr Stacey was angry because his son had been jailed and the abandoned wife was not getting any support from her relatives in the Chambers family.

He met Chambers junior by chance at the Kingfisher Pub in Ewell on February 20 last year, the jury heard.

Sir John said: ‘He started to remonstrate about his son.

During the argument Leonard Chambers Senior happened to phone his son.

‘Leonard Junior explained he was having an argument and his dad asked to talk to David Stacey.

‘David Stacey refused and started to hit Leonard junior with his fists causing him to fall to the pub floor whereupon Stacey started to kick him.

‘

When he heard of the attack Chambers snr phoned Mr Stacey and arranged to meet at the ‘Downs’ near Epsom racecourse in Chessington.

But the Chambers duo ‘intercepted’ Stacey at a junction near Moor Lane and their cars collided.

Mr Stacey, armed with a truncheon, then attacked Chambers Senior, who had a metal torque wrench.

‘Leonard Chambers junior then took out the shotgun from the car, immediately raised it to eye-level and fired it in the direction of David Stacey from a distance of about seven yards,’ said Sir John.

‘One third of the pellets hit Stacey in the forehead.

‘

The Chambers then repeatedly tried to start their car but on the fourth attempt decided to push it down the hill.

Chambers jnr handed himself into police a few days later after hearing of Mr Stacey’s death on the afternoon of February 21.

He originally told police Mr Stacey had been shot by an associate ‘geezer’ by mistake, the court heard.

But he will claim he was acting in self-defence when he fired the guns, Mr Nutting said.

‘We say that in bringing the gun up and firing it in the direction of Stacey he must have realised there was a real risk that at least some of the pellets from the cartridge might hit and injure Stacey.

‘

Father-of-four Mr Stacey was a self-employed roofer and traded in horses across the country.

But he also had a reputation as being a hard man among the travelling community and a few years earlier slashed a man in the face causing serious injuries, the court heard.

Mr Stacey, who lived at a mobile home on a plot of land at Green Lane, Chessington, was acquitted of the attack.

Chambers jnr, who lives in the south west London area but is officially of no fixed abode, denies manslaughter.

The victim was well-known at various fairs throughout England, trading horses at fairs in Appleby, Cumberland, Ayr in Scotland, and Manchester, and was a regular at Epsom races.

The trial continues.

ends