Men 'knew nothing' of fatal drive-by shooting

Men accused of a fatal drive-by shooting outside a church in north-west London "had alibis" and "knew nothing" about a planned attack, their defence barristers have told a jury.

Michelle Sadio, 44, had been attending a wake at the River of Life Pentecostal Church in Harlesden when she was fatally shot in the back, lung and shoulder on 14 December 2024. She died at the scene.

Perry Allen-Thomas, 27, Shaquille Sutherland, 26, Amir Salem, 19, all from Wembley, and Tahjin Sommersall, 19, from Feltham, are on trial at the Old Bailey.

All four men deny charges of murder and attempted murder. Sommersall also denies possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

The court previously heard that the intended target may have been a rapper from Willesden rather than the mother-of-two.

Two men were also injured in the attack.

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

In opening statements, defence barristers told the jury that some of the men had been "mistakenly aligned" with those responsible for the attack and "knew nothing of and were not involved in any plan to shoot".

The jury has been shown CCTV footage of the shooting, in which children as young as five could be seen among the crowd at the wake as four gunshots were fired from a black car.

Jurors heard that the car used in the shooting was stolen and driven on false number plates before being doused in petrol and set alight.

The prosecution claims that all four men are responsible for the attack, even though they had alibis and allegedly covered their tracks.

It is alleged that the young men accused of carrying out the drive-by shooting were put up to it by Sutherland and Allen-Thomas, who were nowhere near the scene.

The prosecution claims Sommersall was in the car with two other men, who fled the country after the incident and remain at large.

Prosecuting, Crispin Aylett KC told the court: "The gun was not fired into the air. Instead it was fired at least four times into that crowd of people.

"They were evidently engaged in this murderous enterprise. They put others up to commit their crime."

The trial continues.

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