An Old Bailey judge today (tue) demanded to know h
An Old Bailey judge today (tue) demanded to know how a council-run sports centre had been taken over by four gun-toting Yardies who staged an execution inside the complex.
Judge Peter Beaumont, QC, said he hoped Brent Council have taken the appropriate steps to ensure ordinary citizens can enjoy the building for relaxation ‘free of the fear of gang warfare.
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The judge made the comments after jailing four Jamaican over-stayers, all members of the so-called Lock Steady Crew, for shooting dead Dion Holmes, 29, over a petty parking dispute outside the Bridge Park Complex in Wembley.
The Lock Steady Crew used the 50 million pound centre, opened by the Prince of Wales, as its headquarters, keeping arms, ammunition and drugs in a private room.
The trial heard how the trivial row led the gang to set out on a ‘mission of revenge and retribution’ because of the lack of respect shown to their territory.
The gang armed themselves with a formidable arsenal, including revolvers and a pump-action shotgun.
And later they confronted Mr Holmes at the complex and shot him dead in front of his wife, the court heard.
Mr Holmes, said to be a member of the Brixton based Cartel Crew, was living in Streatham, southwest London.
Prosecutor Richard Horwell had told the jury: ‘Even in these days of seemingly increasing violence the circumstances of his death were remarkable.
He was shot by one of an armed gang who descended upon a sports complex on a mission of revenge and retribution.
‘The armed gang had at their disposal a variety of firearms, from handguns, revolvers and self-loading pistols to a sawn-off pump action shotgun.
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Mr Horwell said their ‘desire for revenge was based on, of all things, a parking incident earlier that day.
‘The parking incident consisted of a relatively minor squabble which escalated when a firearm was either shown or its use threatened.
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But the dispute involving Mr Holmes’s wife outside the Bridge Park Complex, in the shadow of Wembley Stadium, came to an end when police arrived at the scene.
And the prosecutor said ‘although that incident was relatively minor it heralded the extreme violence that was to follow.
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The jury heard that the four defendants were all members of the Lock City Crew and one of their ‘haunts’ was the sports complex where the row arose.
One of the motives behind the revenge shooting was what the gang considered to be a ‘lack of respect to them and what they considered their property.
‘The combination of such a view and ready access to firearms led to the loss of a life.
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The four men unanimously convicted by the jury of the murder on May 1 last year were; Leonard Cole, 27, of Wiltshire Gardens, Haringey, Jermaine ‘My Lord’ Hamilton, 22, of Western Court, Carlton Vale, Kilburn, Winston ‘Escobar’ Harris, 39, of Wakeman Road, Kensal Green and Stephen ‘Beamer’ Murray, 26, of Mortimer Road, Kensal Green.
David ‘Danny Dread’ Lewis, 50, of Empire Court, Wembley, who worked at the leisure centre as a security adviser, was acquitted of murder and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear.
After jailing them each for life Judge Beaumont asked Mr Horwell: ‘What steps have been taken to ensure that the Bridge Park Complex, which is available for study, small businesses and relaxation in the London Borough of Brent, is going to be free from firearms, the threat of firearms and gang warfare.
‘People are entitled to enjoy the facilities and do so as they wish.
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Mr Horwell replied: ‘One certainly hopes that following these verdicts the council will now do something about the situation revealed in the course of this investigation.
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Judge Beaumont then commended the team of officers involved in the case for the way in which they ‘endeavoured to find a way through the fog of suspicion and fear to find the truth of the events.
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ends
mfls
addjudge
