Musical rally, a year after fatal shooting - Family of electrician Daniel Smith, appeal for information

Published: 27 May 2011
by JOSH LOEB

MUSICIANS blew rams’ horns, a giant sea shell, played saxophones and pounded African drums – but one instrument lay broken on the floor.

The punctured Djembe drum was a poignant symbol of how Daniel Smith’s life was stolen by gun crime.   

The open-air concert, featuring members of Maida Vale-based African spirituality centre Fuboh, took place on Sunday opposite the north Pad­dington takeaway where the 22-year-old Queen’s Park electrician was fatally shot one year ago.

The event, attended by friends and family as well as local MP Karen Buck and Daniel’s former teachers, marked the first anniversary of the killing, which is believed to have been gang related and a “clear case of mistaken iden­tity”.

Last week police re­leased new CCTV pictures of Daniel’s last moments in a renewed bid to find his killers.

Daniel’s mother, Winnie Smith, said she wanted to “remember Daniel and jog people’s mem­ories” in the hope of uncovering new information about the killing.

“We’re not going to give up,” said Ms Smith. “Everything’s still very raw because nothing has been settled. Every day there’s another shooting, another stabbing, and that brings it all back. I know what they [the families of other victims] are going through. I still wait for Daniel to walk through the door, but I know it’s never going to happen.”

Former St Mary’s Roman Catholic primary school pupil Daniel, whose family are orig­inally from Jamaica, was killed in the early hours of Saturday May 22, 2010, as he left a KFC takeaway in Harrow Road close to the junction with Sutherland Avenue. 

Police say he was not connected to any kind of crime, and they recently released an image of a man who they say may have been the intended target of the shooting. 

Westminster North Labour MP Karen Buck said: “Daniel did not die as a representative of anything. Daniel was murdered and he hasn’t had justice. 

“The first reason why we are here is to express our anger that he has not had justice.”

She added that there had since been other violent incidents in that area of Harrow Road.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Inspector John Crossley on 020 8733 4212 or on his mobile number, 07824 548341. 

DCI Crossley said: “Trident has great expertise in protecting witnes­ses and there is a huge variety of measures that can be put in place to protect you.”

Pictured: Daniel’s family and friends, including his mother Winnie Smith and his auntie Ena Miller, at the scene of the shooting.