Flamur Beqiri: Murder trial hears of 'cold blooded' shooting

Flamur Beqiri was killed in front of his wife and child

A man was shot dead in front of his wife and toddler by a team of Swedish killers who planned the murder for six months, a court has heard.

Flamur Beqiri, 36, was repeatedly shot in the back of the head as he returned from dinner on Christmas Eve 2019.

Four men are being prosecuted for murder and another two for perverting the course of justice.

Mr Beqiri, a Swedish-Albanian national, was outside his home in Battersea, south-west London, when he was killed.

The attack on Mr Beqiri, who was the brother of Real Housewives of Cheshire star Misse Beqiri, was caught on CCTV.

The 36-year-old was shot dead on 24 December 2019

The prosecution barrister, Mark Heywood QC, told Southwark Crown Court that the victim was "quite deliberately killed in cold blood".

"It happened on a quiet London street. A man coming back to his home with his young family was shot and killed in front of them.

"When you have seen and heard the evidence in this case, you will likely conclude that it was as brutal as it was thoroughly shocking. That evidence will show that it was done at very close range, the gun being fired multiple times until the target was not just put down but was beyond any hope of life.

"That, when you reflect on it, was clearly the intention not just of the man who pulled the trigger but of those behind what happened. The primary purpose was to kill."

Mr Heywood said the murder had been planned for about six months, with the killers coming from Sweden before returning and recruiting a local team "to tidy up once they had gone".

A police car and tent on Battersea Church Street after the 2019 attack

The alleged gunman, Swedish-Tunisian national Anis Hemissi, 24, denies murder and possession of a self-loading pistol.

Swedish nationals Estevan Pino-Munizaga, 35, Tobias Fredrik Andersson, 32, and Bawer Karaer, 23, who are said to have been part of the team "on the ground" sent to assist Mr Hemissi, also deny murder.

UK national Clifford Rollox, 31, of Islington, north London, and Dutch national Claude Isaac Castor, 21, from Sint Maarten in the Caribbean but resident in the UK, deny perverting the course of justice.

Mr Heywood said the pair were involved in "clearing up and removing the tools of the killer's trade" at a nearby riverfront Battersea flat, where the shooter had stayed immediately after the attack.

Flowers were left in Battersea Church Road, south London

"This premises was quite deliberately selected for the purpose, one of many steps taken towards this event, which was not just weeks, not just a month, but many months in the planning," he added.

Mr Heywood said the planning "became more intense" in November 2019 when Mr Pino-Munizaga travelled to London for about 14 hours.

He allegedly rented the flat, visited Mr Beqiri's house and bought a bicycle, which was later used by the killer to carry out reconnaissance in the days before the murder.

Jurors were asked to consider the "sheer expense and effort" that went into the planning and were told they would hear "repeated reference to somebody behind the scenes, a part of the web that led to these shocking events".

The trial continues.