Islington Tribune - News: gang set out to kill

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Islington Tribune - by DAVID ST GEORGE
Published: 18 May 2007

‘Tattooed gang set out to kill’

MEMBERS of a gun gang on a murder mission all had one thing in common – three letters tattooed on their hands, a jury has heard.
They had LOM printed on their palms to identify them as Love of Money Crew, prosecutor Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, QC, told an Old Bailey trial last week.
When the men went by car from their base in Hoxton to “take revenge on a challenger” they took with them a loaded sawn-off shotgun and a handgun.
Moments after arriving in crowded Laburnum Street, Hoxton, on April 10 one of the gang, Ezekel Taylor, 21, fired the shotgun and wounded Nicholas Richards, 20.
Another shot peppered a passing car in which a four-year-old girl was sitting eating an ice cream as her dad drove.
Miss Bennett-Jenkins said: “The front window was blown out. They were showered with glass but, unbelievably, not injured.”
She claimed the gang’s intentions were to kill after one of them traded punches with Mr Richards for straying into their territory.
Taylor, Clive Joe, 18, Ross Oakford, 21, and Levi Defreitas, all from the Hoxton area, deny attempted murder and firearms offences.
The jury was told witnesses would be giving evidence behind screens and with their identities withheld.
The trial continues.