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Laidlaw runs along the tube tunnel at Finsbury Park station, gun in hand |
The moment gun terror came to Finsbury Park
Gunman with history of muggings faces five life sentences
A GUNMAN who shot at three strangers in 30 minutes after a “pavement rage” incident is today (Friday) facing five life sentences.
Commuters dived for their lives or ran for cover in May as former boxing champion John Laidlaw, 24, caused terror on the streets of Islington.
He opened fire with a pistol during the evening rush hour.
In separate attacks, he gunned down a social worker, 43-year-old Abu Kamara, who still has a bullet lodged close to his spine, and secretary Emma Sheridan, 26. She “miraculously” escaped injury when she was shot in the back, the Old Bailey heard.
Judge Sam Wiggs will sentence Laidlaw on three counts of attempted murder and two of having a firearm to endanger life.
The judge said he had to have public protection in mind and the “dangerousness” of the attacker.
Following the conviction, it emerged that Laidlaw has been jailed 15 times in the past for muggings, many of which were at knifepoint around Bloomsbury.
He also served time for grievous bodily harm, burglary, robbery and racially aggravated threatening behaviour.
Detective Sergeant Nick Bonomini, from Scotland Yard’s Serious Crime Directorate, said afterwards: “He has previously demonstrated a high level of aggression towards black people that appears, given his words, to be based on their race.
“But there was no evidence in these current two shootings that suggest that this formed the same sort of motivation for him and on that we have an open mind.”
On the day of the shootings, an exchange of looks was enough to spark the attack on Mr Kamara in busy Upper Street, Islington, after he was accused of bumping into Laidlaw’s companion.
Ms Sheridan’s padded jacket and thick cardigan saved her at crowded Finsbury Park station when she was shot on her way home from work a little later on May 24 last year.
Laidlaw was spotted by chance by two cousins he had been involved in a violent run-in with days earlier.
Drawing the pistol from his waistband, he fired towards the fleeing men and a bullet struck Ms Sheridan, from Highgate.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny said: “On each occasion innocent members of the public were injured. Mercifully, no one was killed. The gunman had murderous intent.”
Laidlaw, flanked by four prison guards, showed no emotion as the jury convicted him at the end of a week long trial. They learned that he has convictions for 26 previous offences, including armed street muggings, racially aggravated assault and causing grievous bodily harm. He was captured by CCTV cameras at the scenes of both shootings.
Mr Kamara showed jurors the side of his neck where the bullet entered, bounced off his Adam’s Apple and ended up near the top of his spine.
He said: “I saw the man pull on a black glove. The gun was produced quickly and I heard a bang and saw a flash from the barrel. A woman screamed that I was bleeding just as I was about to give chase.”
Jobless Laidlaw of Sussex Way, Upper Holloway, was arrested the following day when armed police stormed a house in Surrey where he was hiding.
The jury rejected his claim that he had been mistakenly identified as the gunman and also the evidence of his devoted mother that he could not have been the culprit.
Laidlaw had claimed he was watching television all day when the shootings shootings happened and was the victim of mistaken identity.
The claim was backed up by his mother in court, who said the man on the CCTV footage did not bare a resemblance to her son.
Ms Sheridan was shot just below her left shoulder and has suffered emotional trauma. The bullet nicked her skin and fell from her clothing at the scene.
She told jury: “I put my right hand up to my back and felt a hole and something hard. I had a vision of a bullet in my back and that I was about to die.”
One of the cousins – the original targets – approached her, shook her hand and wished her well, saying: “That bullet was meant for me.”
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