Gunman who shot man in the head guilty of murder

Jesse Lloyd-Smith, 20, was shot in Peckham on 10 July and died the following day in hospital

A gunman has been found guilty of murdering a young man who he shot in the head in an alleyway near the Damilola Taylor Centre.

Jesse Lloyd-Smith, 20, was found moments later by his mother fatally injured yards from their home in Peckham, south-east London, on 10 July 2024.

The killer, Gabriel Charles, 19, travelled to the scene in a Ford S-Max car which was found burnt out days later. He fled the country after the shooting and denied being present at the scene of the killing.

On Thursday, a jury at the Old Bailey found Charles, from Southwark, south London, guilty of murder.

Mother heard gunshots

Co-defendant Kywan JN Pierre, 18, from Selhurst, south London, was cleared of murder but convicted of plotting to pervert the course of justice.

Five others were found guilty of helping to dispose of evidence as the killer sought to evade justice.

The court previously heard how the silver-coloured Ford S-Max had driven slowly towards the alleyway at around 16:50 BST on 10 July 2024.

The gunman got out of the S-Max and ran towards the victim, firing at least five shots as he went, jurors heard.

Mr Dawes said: "Some of the shots hit Jesse knocking him to the ground. The gunman ran back to the car which drove away."

The victim's mother, Ty Lloyd-Smith, was in her flat only yards away and heard the noise of shots.

She ran downstairs to find her son lying on the ground, shot in the head, jurors heard.

Mr Lloyd-Smith was taken to hospital for emergency surgery but died the next day.

Ben Nguyen, 20, of no fixed address; Enver Francis, 22, from Southwark; Abdoul Guene, 18, from Peckham; Kadjo Kadio, 21, from Dartford; and a 17-year-old youth, who cannot be identified due to their age, were found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice by removing the Ford S-Max car and destroying it by fire two days later.

Kadio, who voluntarily absented himself from the trial, and Nguyen were convicted of assisting an offender.