Gun in Daniel Smith case linked to other shootings

Published: 11 June, 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

THE gun used to kill popular electrician Daniel Smith has been linked to a number of other shootings in the capital.

Mr Smith, 22, was gunned down outside a KFC takeaway in Harrow Road three weeks ago in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity that has paralysed the community on the Mozart Estate where he lived with his mother and two sisters.

In another significant breakthrough, detectives now believe they have identified the intended targets – two youths who were in KFC when the gunman opened fire – and say the killing was part of a bitter turf war being waged between gangs in the Mozart and South Kilburn estates.

They want to trace a man seen running from the scene into Marylands Road seconds after the incident in the early hours of Saturday, May 22.

It is believed the gunman’s name is being protected by associates in the area who may be too intimidated to come forward, prompting police to issue a plea for the community to “stand up”.

Ballistics officers have traced the bullet recovered from Mr Smith’s body to other gang-related shootings, although they did not say where or when these occurred. 

Detective Inspector Mark Brookes, from Operation Trident told the West End Extra: “Daniel is a young lad of 22, grown up on the Mozart and has not been involved in any criminality. He’s kept his nose completely clean, he’s got himself qualified as an electrician, which is a big ask for a young black guy on the Mozart.

“We are confident that this is gang related between a gang in the Mozart and a gang in South Kilburn. We are aware that there were two men that we have identified in KFC who we believe were the intended targets.”

He added: “We believe there were a lot of people on the street who would have known what’s happened, and people will have been speaking about it even if it’s the gunman speaking to one person, who has then spoken to another. 

“The community has got to realise that these people are indiscriminate. It could be anyone. They don’t care. And until people just sit up and say ‘no’ and start pointing the finger this fear and violence that they [the gangs] control will continue.”

Police are hoping for a community response similar to other “innocent bystander” murders, most notably, the 2003 shooting of seven-year-old schoolgirl Toni-Ann Byfield, and recently 16-year-old Agnes Sina-Inakoju, who was killed in a Hoxton takeaway. In both investigations community intelligence was key to making arrests, police said.

In the week after the shooting, speaking through the police, Mr Smith’s family said their son’s death had “devastated and disorganised the foundations” of their lives. 

The killer, they said, was “mindless, motiveless and evil”. 

For the Mozart it is a tragic reminder that its historical problems have not gone away. Once nicknamed “crack city” in the 1980s, the red brick ‘“avenues” between the Harrow Road and Kilburn Lane have once again recently found themselves slipping back into infamy, this time for their youth gangs.

Officers want to speak to a man described as a light-skinned black man, around 25 years old, 6ft 1in tall with untidy Afro-style hair.

Anyone with any information is urged to call the incident room at West Hendon on 020 8733 4704 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

• Two men were arrested on May 24 on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of Daniel Smith and were given bail until July 24.