Restaurant shooting gun gang jailed after ordeal in Ealing
Published: 19:49, 19 September 2023
Updated: 20:53, 19 September 2023
Members of a gun gang have been locked up after shooting inside a restaurant full of customers in a harrowing attack.
Lee Morgan, of Leybourne near Maidstone, was handed five years for his part in the conspiracy, which saw his accomplice unleash shots into the London venue.
The 42-year-old was sentenced alongside Nicholas Grant, 46, of no fixed abode and Elton Charles, 50 of Liddell Gardens, Kensal Rise.
They were found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence following a five-week trial at Kingston Crown Court in July and August 2023.
Charles and Grant were both handed five-year prison sentences.
Meanwhile, Nathanial St Aimie, of MacMillan Way, Tooting, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
The 49-year-old was jailed for six years and three months on Saturday, September 15.
This trial came following the shooting at the restaurant in Greenford Road, Ealing at around 9.30pm on September 6, 2022.
One of the shots was fired through the window.
The man seen discharging the weapon, later identified as Nicolas Grant, was captured on CCTV getting out of a white van by officers from Specialist Crime who gathered hours of CCTV from the nearby area.
However, no number plate was visible which saw the team widen their CCTV enquiries and which led to them identifying the plate, which was linked to a van hire company.
Detectives then found that St Aimie had rented the van two months previously with GPS data showing it had returned to his home address shortly after the shooting took place.
St Aimie, using a burner mobile phone, had carried out reconnaissance of the restaurant the day before the incident, and then arranged for his co-defendants to become involved in the shooting.
WhatsApp messages and data recovered from the defendants’ phones showed they had arranged to meet up and were in the area at the time of the incident, with financial gain being the motive for the shooting.
Detective Constable Meechok Maingarm, who led the investigation, said it was “good fortune” no one was injured.
He said: “This was a shocking attack which left many of those present extremely shaken up and caused real fear to the restaurant’s owners.
“Our team worked exceptionally hard to identify those responsible, and the evidence collected was enough to prove that all four men were in touch prior to the incident and played their part in this deliberate and pre-planned shooting.”
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Joe Crossley