Father shot dead in drugs war

A killer shot a father in the face at point blank range in a dispute over drug dealing, a court heard.

Luke Matthews, 31, is said to have blasted Kyle Kelson, 25, in the head with a shotgun at 1am on 19 June 2020.

Mr Kelson was shot in the head seconds after he disappeared from CCTV on Brocks Drive in Sutton, south London, the Old Bailey heard.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray, KC, said the evidence suggests the killing could be related to drug dealing.

Matthews, who is 6 foot 8 tall, was wearing plastic gloves when he allegedly shot Mr Kelson.

Mr Cray said: ‘Kyle Kelson left his home address in Gander Green Lane in Sutton and was with this defendant Luke Matthews.

‘They walked around some streets near Kyle’s home. Around six minutes later, on a street called Brocks Drive, Kyle was shot dead with a 12 bore shotgun.

‘The prosecution case is that the defendant murdered Kyle. We say he produced the shotgun, which he had been hiding in his loose fitting, baggy clothing.

‘He then took aim and deliberately shot Kyle. The shot was to the head, at point blank range.

‘Immediately afterwards, the defendant ran to a waiting car and made his getaway.

‘He was in possession of the gun and had taken Kyle’s mobile phone. The gun, Kyle’s phone and the clothes that the defendant was wearing that night have never been found.’

The court heard that Matthews claims it was Mr Kelson who had the gun and pulled it on him and that Mr Kelson was shot during a struggle for the weapon.

He accepts that he removed the gun and Mr Kelson’s phone from the scene and disposed of it.

Matthews had arrived in Sutton at 11.12pm with his cousin Lee Matthews. They met a man called Aaron McGrath who was carrying a shotgun in a bag, the court heard.

At 12.08am on Wickham Avenue Lee Matthews had taken the gun and fired it at a lit up window occupied by a man called Tom Kennedy.

Matthews has admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence in relation to this incident.

He claims he drove his cousin and Mr McGrath there because his mother, the landlady, was in a dispute with one of the tenants and they intended to fire a shot to scare them.

They entered Mr Kelson’s flat at 12.35am. Matthews claims he went to there to buy half a kilo of cocaine.

After the shooting Matthews ran to a Jaguar driven by a fourth man, Gary Hyde, carrying the shotgun and Mr Kelson’s phone, the court heard.

Matthews, of Camelot Court, Crawley, denies murder.