Prosecutor Karim Khalil, KC told the jury Brandon Malutshi, who was affiliated with the 17 gang, was shot and wounded at the Oval Space nightclub in Hackney, east London, on the night of Aug. 29 and early hours of Aug. 30, 2022.
But he said the individual the prosecution claim was the gunman—who cannot be named for legal reasons—is now deceased.
Six other men went on trial, accused of taking part in a joint enterprise with the gunman, who died shortly after the shooting at the Oval Space.
Shemiah Bell, 31, and Marcus Pottinger, 31, were convicted of wounding with intent, while Connel Bamgboye, 29, was found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
All three were acquitted of attempted murder.
Simeon Glasgow, 30, Carl Tagoe, 29, and Hamza Abdi, 24, were acquitted of all charges.
The gun used in the attack has never been located.
At the start of the trial Mr. Khalil told the jury, “[The gunman] pulled a handgun out of a bag which had been smuggled into the club by other defendants. He shot at Brandon Malutshi. [He] shot him in the upper part of his left leg. The bullet went straight through his leg.”
The victim ran from the club, chased by the gunman and Bell, claimed Mr. Khalil.
He said Mr. Malutshi was shot at several times, but only one bullet struck him, going through his right leg.
Mr. Malutshi collapsed, and passers-by rang 999 and paramedics arrived to stabilise his condition.
67 Gang at Centre of Trial
During the trial the jury was told the gunman was affiliated with the so-called 67 gang along with Bell, a convicted drug dealer.Bell appeared in two 67 gang music videos and in one he is seen making the sign of a gun with his hand.
Bamgboye, who was known by the street name C-Rose, was affiliated with the 67 gang and county lines drug dealing, jurors heard.
Bamgboye was also involved in music production and associated with the deceased gunman.
He was himself the victim of a shooting in 2017.
Mr. Khalil cross examined Bamgboye in the witness box and asked him, “Your mother is a religious woman and brought a strong moral compass to your family?”
“Yes,” replied Bamgboye.
Mr. Khalil asked him, “You ignored her?”
“Yes, on some occasions,” admitted Bamgboye.
Mr. Khalil then said, “I’m going to suggest to you that you were a gang member.”
Bamgboye replied: “I wouldn’t say I was a gang member. I was affiliated.”
The prosecutor then asked him about the 2017 incident in which he was shot at a party in Romford.
Mr. Khalil asked him, “You were with [the gunman] and other 67 gang associates?”
Bamgboye nodded.
Mr. Khalil asked him, “Who were the others?”
“I can’t remember but I don’t think I was with that many 67 people,” he replied.
Mr. Khalil then asked: “[The gunman] was stabbed in the stomach. Do you know why?”
“No,” he replied.
Mr. Khalil asked, “It was a gang fight?”
“Yes, you could say that,” replied Bamgboye.
Gunman Was ‘Moving Mad’
Mr. Tagoe said a woman told him, “I beg you try and chat to [the gunman] because he’s moving mad.”Asked by his barrister, Jane Bickerstaff, KC, to explain what that meant, Mr. Tagoe said: “I thought maybe he was trying to chat her up. I didn’t think it was anything serious.”
But Mr. Tagoe said the individual was wearing a balaclava and seemed “irritable.”
Mr. Tagoe said the man said, “My ops are over there.”
Ms. Bickerstaff asked what “ops” meant to him and Mr. Tagoe said it was short for opposition and meant “enemy,” adding, “I didn’t think he did have a plan to do anything.”
Mr. Tagoe said he and Pottinger asked the individual to take off the balaclava, but he turned his back and kissed his teeth, a dismissive gesture.
“I tried as hard as I could to make him not go over there,“ said Mr. Tagoe, who said he lost sight of the man briefly before hearing a ”pop.”
“When I heard the noise I didn’t necessarily link it with him,” he added.
Bell, Pottinger, and Bamgboye will be sentenced at a later date.
