Four men have been sent to prison for a combined 21 years following a shooting last September at Punjabi Kitchen in Greenford.
At around 9:30pm on 6 September 2022, a shot was fired through the window of the restaurant on Greenford Road. Despite Punjabi Kitchen being full of people, no one was injured but those inside were fearful of their lives.
Lee Morgan, 42 of Waterside Court, Leybourne, Nicholas Grant, 46 of no fixed abode and Elton Charles, 50 of Liddell Gardens, Kensal Rise 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 2023 and August 2023.
At a hearing on 15 September 2023 each of the three men were sentenced to five years in jail.
Nathanial St Aimie, 49 of MacMillan Way, Tooting pleaded guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence on the second day of the trial and was sentenced on 15 September to six years and three months’imprisonment.
Following the shooting, Metropolitan Police officers began an investigation and gathered hours of CCTV from nearby in Greenford.
They were able to identify Nicolas Grant as the man seen firing the shot as he was captured on CCTV getting out of a white van, but no number plate was visible. Detectives widened their CCTV enquiries and eventually identified the van’s registration plate, which linked it to a van hire company.
Further work led to police finding out 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. Enquiries then revealed that 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: “This was a shocking attack and it was only by good fortune that no-one inside the premises suffered any injury. It left many of those present extremely shaken up and caused real fear to the restaurant’s owners.”
He added: “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.”
