Shot through the eye

Two killers blasted a man through the eye and injured his friend in a drive-by shooting near a Tube station, a court heard.

Otas Sarkus, 20, and Bristan Williams, 18, were both shot in Raymond Road, near Upton Park underground station in east London on 18 August last year.

Mr Sarkus died in hospital two days later after being shot in his right eye, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Williams did not realise he had been shot and got onto a Route 238 bus in Plashet Grove nearby. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and survived.

Dean Adams, 32, and Deon Brisport, 30, deny murdering Mr Sarkus and attempting to murder Mr Williams.

Prosecutor Sasha Wass, KC, said: ‘This case involved a drive by shooting.

‘The prosecution case is that the two defendants were occupants of a car along with two other men, and from that car shots were fired directly at a group of men resulting in the death of one of those men and serious injury to another.

‘On Wednesday 18 August last year at 10.45pm a group of young men were standing together in Raymond Road near Upton Park station.

‘As they were standing there, without any warning, a white Volvo motor car was driving towards them and swerved at them at speed, seemingly trying to ram the group.

‘It didn’t hit the men, but managed to smash into a couple of parked cars, but carried on driving nonetheless.

‘Sensing the danger, the group of young man started running. The car moved towards them, came level to the window, wound it down and shots were fired from the Volvo towards the group of men.

‘Four or possibly five shots were fired. Two rounds of ammunition went into the right eye of Otas Sarkus.

‘Mr Sarkus was taken to hospital and he was treated but he sadly died of his wounds two days later.

‘An additional round hit the back of Bristan Williams. Mr Williams didn’t know he was shot at first.

‘He felt something hit his back but wasn’t aware of the seriousness of the injury at all.

‘He ran away from the aggressive incident and jumped onto a bus. Once on the bus he realised he was bleeding from his back and must have been shot.

‘Emergency services attended and he survived his injuries.’

Ms Wass said four men were inside the Volvo.

‘The prosecution case is that anyone in that Volvo must have intended serious harm to one of more of the people in the group.

‘The occupants wanted to make doubly sure there were no links between them and the car.

‘Following the shooting the Volvo drove away at speed to a quiet suburban cul-de-sac called Old School Crescent.

‘The secluded nature of the area and the fact the defendants were able to access it through a coded gate might suggest some local knowledge and a degree of planning.

‘Four men were seen on CCTV to leave Old School Crescent from the direction of where the Volvo was parked.

‘Little over an hour after the car was parked another man was seen going towards the car, carrying a bag. A little while later he walked away not carrying a bag, and, within seconds, that car was up in flames.’

Police found that the registration plate on the car which connected it to a car in Northern Ireland was fake.

The car had been stolen from Grantham Road in Clapham on 14 June.

Ms Wass alleged that Adams and Brisport can be identified from CCTV footage while DNA evidence links them to the burnt out car.

Adams, of Stevenage Road, East Ham, and Brisport, of Lauriston Road, Hackney, both east London, deny murder and attempted murder.

The trial continues.