Cardiff cousins guilty of daylight high street 'gangland hit'

Police say Keiron Hassan and Kamal Legall "had a feud" with Taylor Patterson

Two cousins have been convicted of attempting a "gangland-style hit" in broad daylight outside a convenience store on a high street.

Keiron Hassan and Kamal Legall have been convicted of attempting to murder Taylor Patterson in Cardiff by shooting him and attacking him with a machete.

Surgeons saved Mr Patterson, 22, in hospital after he was shot and stabbed in the neck, Newport Crown Court heard.

Hassan, 32, of Ely, and Legall, 26, of Fairwater will be sentenced later.

The pair were convicted of attempted murder and possession of a shortened shotgun after the attack on Mr Harris in front of terrified shoppers outside a Lifestyle Express store in the Rumney area of Cardiff, the court heard.

CCTV footage of the attack on Taylor Patterson outside the Lifestyle Express store in Rumney

Jurors were told Mr Patterson was heard to say "not here, not now" before he was slashed in the neck and shot at point blank range with a sawn-off shot gun on Harris Avenue at about 15:30 BST on Easter Monday.

"This was a murderous attack, it was professionally planned and executed in a gangland-style hit where the clear intention was to the kill the victim Taylor Patterson," prosecutor Christopher Rees QC told the five-week trial.

"The attackers took advantage of the pandemic in that they wore masks to hide their identity."

Mr Patterson asked one bystander "Am I going to die?" after he heard a bang and felt his legs collapse, jurors heard.

Taylor Patterson was attacked on Easter Monday outside of the Lifestyle Express store

"The way it occurred in a Cardiff street in broad daylight in front of a number of terrified members of the public, it may well be that such a brazen attack was to send a message to others and to strike fear into a local community," added Mr Rees.

The court heard Hassan shouted at his victim: "Where's my watch?"

After fleeing the scene the defendants were traced through Cardiff after detectives viewed "thousands of hours of CCTV".

The court heard Hassan and Legall had hidden a loaded shotgun near a children's playground in Cardiff Bay and had "cloned" the number plates on a Nissan Pathfinder in order to hide its identity.

The court heard Mr Patterson was saved by paramedics and surgeons after losing blood from a five inch cut in his neck and a wound on his body.

"Keiron Hassan and Kamal Legall are cousins, they had a feud with their victim," Det Ch Insp Mark O'Shea of South Wales Police said.

"Criminals who do decide to take firearms to settle any score or grievances they may have with others, it won't be tolerated by the police and it won't be tolerated by the communities we serve either."