Jury shown CCTV of drive-by shooting at wake

A jury has been shown CCTV footage of a drive-by shooting outside a church in north‑west London which killed a woman and injured two others.

Michelle Sadio, 44, had been attending a wake at the River of Life Pentecostal Church in Harlesden when she was killed in the attack on 14 December 2024.

Perry Allen-Thomas, 27, Shaquille Sutherland, 26, Amir Salem, 19, and Tahjin Sommersall, 19, are on trial at the Old Bailey and deny charges of murder and attempted murder. Sommersall also denies possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Children as young as five were in the crowd as a black car approached and four gunshots were fired.

Screams and calls for help were heard on the footage as the attack was carried out, killing the mother-of-two.

Kenneth Amoah, 39, who was a contractor for Transport for London, suffered a gunshot wound to the back that has left him paralysed below the waist, and Kadeem Francis, 32, was shot in the foot.

The court also heard how Allen-Thomas had been on licence and fitted with an electronic tag after serving a prison sentence for a previous offence.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC told the jury that "one of the conditions was to keep the tag charged" and suggested the battery had been deliberately allowed to go flat on the day the mother-of-two was shot in the back.

"The tag was reactivated a few minutes before the shooting happened. People engaged in crime attempt to circumvent ways to avoid being detected," Aylett said.

He added: "It is not a coincidence that his tag was reactivated at 21:07 GMT – just six minutes before the shooting. He knew a crime was about to take place."

The jury heard that Allen-Thomas' tag then indicated he was near his home address, away from the alleged murder scene.

Prosecutors said the men used a "belts and braces approach" to establish they were not in the area at the time, with Sutherland reportedly visiting a hair salon and using Uber when the shooting took place.

The prosecution claims he and the others ensured they had "rock-solid alibis".

The court also heard that two other men, whom police have been unable to locate, may have been involved in the attack but fled separately to Dubai.

The trial continues.

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