Eyewitness to Ilford shooting moved house out of fear following incident, court hears

Eyewitnesses have described the terrifying moment that a fatal shooting unfolded in a quiet residential street in Ilford.

Abdifatah “Abdi” Sheikhey, a former Wanstead High School pupil, was gunned down by an unknown gunman on March 21this year.

He was shot five times in the chest in a hired black Mercedes E250, on Woodlands Road, in Ilford, at 10.03pm.

Sami Omar, 21, and Suleman Mohamed, 20, both of Kingston Road, Ilford, as well as Jordi Kibusi, 20, of Wisteria Close, Ilford are jointly accused of his murder.

They all deny the charges.

Opening the prosecution’s case on Monday, Anthony Orchard QC told the jury that Abdi’s shooting was a “revenge” attack following a knife fight in a chicken shop.

Yesterday at the Old Bailey, the jury listened intently to residents’ accounts.

A Woodlands Road resident, who moved to Ilford in 2014, told the court he moved house, along with his girlfriend, after witnessing the shooting.

He said: “It was a very very bad experience.

“I couldn’t believe what I had seen.”

The man, who served in the army in Romania for a year, said he sprung to his feet and ran to his bedroom window after hearing shots ring out around 10pm.

He told the jury: “I recognised the noise.

“I heard two shots and I knew it was a gun and I rang to the window.

“I saw a man with a gun and after 20 seconds, he shot twice again.”

He said the gunman, who was wearing a white t-shirt, got into a white BMW X5 which sped off into the night.

Under cross-examination, the man admitted that he was not “totally certain” of his account but insisted he was certain that the gunman had got into a white BMW following the attack.

Previously, Mr Orchard had told the court that the white BMW X4 had been hired by Jordi Kibusi, and that he was driving on the night of the shooting.

He added that the defendant’s phones, CCTV and a tracker on the BMW placed all three defendants using the BMW at the time of the shooting.

All three deny this.

A young woman who lives along the the road said she heard a total of five or six shots and looked out her bedroom to find out what was going on.

She said: “There was a black car parked up by a skip.

“I saw four or five men dressed all in black attacking the car for about a minute before they ran off in different directions.”

Good Samaritan Mohammed Vora, of Ilford, took to the stand to recount Abdi’s final moments.

The 26-year-old, who volunteers as a special constable, attempted to save Abdi’s life after he heard the commotion.

Following the shooting, the driver of the Mercedes E520 travelled around the corner to Bedford Road, just off Ilford Lane, and asked for help.

Mr Vora told the court: “There was two boys and they were visibly upset. They were saying that their friend had been shot.

“They asked us to call the police and I could see someone was in the passenger seat not responding.”

When Mr Vora opened the door to pull Abdi out, he discovered a large knife in a sheath in the footwell by the victim’s foot.

He said: “There was a strong smell of cannabis in the car.

“I pulled him out of the car by myself and followed the instructions to give him CPR.

“Initially he wasn’t responding but I thought I felt a breath.”

Previously Mr Vora had told the Recorder that his desperate attempt to save Abdi’s life would stay with him forever.

All three men deny the charges and the trial continues.

Eyewitness to Ilford shooting moved house out of fear following incident, court hears