A Ilford man accused of murder confessed to his friend that “serious criminals” were driving the car he hired on the night of a fatal shooting, a court heard today.

Jordi Kibusi, 20, of Wisteria Close, is jointly charged with the murder of Abdi Sheikhey, along with Sami Omar, 21, and Suleman Mohamed, 20, both of Kingston Road, Ilford.

They all deny the charges.

Abdi, who was shot in the chest five times at point blank range, had been sitting in a hired black Mercedes E250, on Woodlands Road, in Ilford, at 10.03pm, on March 21.

Opening the prosecution’s case at the Old Bailey on Monday, Anthony Orchard QC told the jury that the gunman emerged from a white BMW X4- which pulled alongside Abdi - while he was sat in the passenger seat of the stationary car.

Mr Orchard said that the white BMW X4 had been hired by Mr Kibusi, and that he was driving on the night of the shooting, which the defendant denies.

He added that the defendants’ phones, CCTV and a tracker on the BMW place all three defendants using the BMW at the time of the shooting, which is also denied.

Yesterday at the trial, the man who leased the car to Mt Kibusi revealed that that the defendant had used someone else’s driving license to hire the car.

He told the court: “I realised he wasn’t the guy on the license when I saw a photo on WhatsApp.”

The witness, who gave evidence behind a screen, said he contacted Mr Kibusi following the fatal shooting to find out what was going on.

He said: “I received a call from Jordi about 11.45am on an unknown number.

“I asked him what had gone on as the police had taken my car.

“He seemed very cool about it, as if he didn’t know what was going on. He asked if the police had his details.

“I told him I had given them to them as it was a serious matter and that the police were armed.

“He told me that he wanted to meet me.”

When the pair met later that day, the witness said that Mr Kibusi confessed that he had been subletting the car.

He said: “He [Mr Kibusi] told me that he had rented the BMW to make extra money and that he was going to the police but would not say who was who it was [that had been driving].

“He said they were serious criminals.

“He asked what the police had done and I told him they had taken my phone which had his license on, the car and my CCTV.”

The witness added that Mr Kibusi said the tracker would show that the car never went to his house.

Under cross-examination, the witness said he had an “inkling” that Mr Kibusi was involved with drug dealing.

All three deny the charges and the trial continues.