A 17-year-old who shot a mum in the head through her front door as she attempted to shield her two kids from a gang feud, has been jailed for life.
Lianne Gordon had just returned from a holiday in Jamaica when she was targetted by Joshua Alexander in her home in East London, on December 5, 2023, the Old Bailey heard.
The 42-year-old was the unintended victim of a gang feud between rivals in the neighbourhood, jurors were told. Alexander, 17, denied being the gunman but was found guilty of Ms Gordon’s murder after a trial at the Old Bailey. He was jailed for a minimum of 29 years on Monday, December 2, reports the Mirror.
Despite not turning 18 for another two months, Judge David Aubrey KC, said it was in the public interest to name him as the killer.
During sentencing, Ms Gordon’s heartbroken mother Ella Leatham said her daughter’s killer should be hanged, in her victim impact statement to the court.
She told the judge: “5 December 2023, will be with me for the rest of my days. I now know how other families who have had a family member killed feel.
“I am angry and upset at losing Lianne, this is no joke. I hope he rots in jail for the rest of his days. It has still not sunk in that I will never see Lianne again.
“There were hundreds of people who attended Lianne’s funeral and that is a testament to the person she was. Lianne, I pray you rest in eternal peace.”
Ms Gordon’s younger sister Sakara Campbell directed her statement to Alexander: “You are a different kind of evil and you know deep down, you killed an innocent woman.
“You had no right to kill my sister and stand in court denying the offences you are charged with. All the time you showed no remorse or accountability for your actions.
“I know everyday you will feel the pain of what you have done because you took away a golden heart. You are so stupid, instead of cooking drugs, you should have stayed in school and get some sense in your head.
“I can’t imagine what you have put your family through. I hope while you sit in your cell you really think about your life and the choices you made.
“You will never know what it is to be surrounded by love, the love we have for each other. Now we have justice for Lianne, but no sentence will ever bring her back.”
The jury deliberated back and forth for 21 hours before they found him guilty of attempting to kill a 17-year-old boy and 21-year-old man, who were shot in the street in the same incident.
He was also convicted of affray, having a firearm with intent to endangering life and possession of a bladed article but was soon acquitted of threatening Ms Gordon’s son with a knife. Co-defendant Elijah Seriki, 21, from Hackney, was acquitted of all the charges against him.
At the time of the attack, the teenage defendant had been on bail for attempting murder relating to a separate incident in March 2023. On the evening of December 5, last year, Ms Gordon’s 21-year-old son Kaymound was in the shower and her 16-year-old daughter exited her room when she heard what she believed were fireworks.
Despite the gunman wearing a balaclava, the daughter later told police that she recognised her mother’s killer. She said: “Mum had her hand on door handle and looked like she was trying to close it. I could see gun tip through the open door. I saw her drop. I went to her.
“As soon as my mum took her last breath and I was still hearing gunshots and that, I opened the front door and I was screaming at him and he stared me directly in my face. He was wearing a balaclava or hood, but I could see enough of his eyes and nose area to recognise him. He did not say anything. Everything happened in slow motion. We were face on for a few seconds, maybe five, before he ran off. We locked eyes, knew it was him.”
Ms Gordon died at the scene from one gunshot wound to the head, whilst the two other victims outside were treated in hospital. Jurors had heard the shooting was the culmination of various incidents. Prosecutor Mark Fenhalls KC said the incidents happened due to a dispute between two Hackney gangs: the Pembury Gang, with which the youth was associated; and the A-Road Gang, with whom Ms Gordon’s son Kaymound was linked.
It was said that the defendants had threatened Kaymound Gordon with a large knife as he smoked a cigarette on his doorstep on October 1 last year, however, they denied it. On December 2, 2023, the teen was involved in a ride-out in rival territory involving a machete and a gun which was fired four times, jurors were told.
Kaymound Gordon, who uses a wheelchair, had denied membership of the A-Road Gang but said problems started in 2019 when his friend, Dotz, was murdered. Throughout the years, both sides would disrespect each other in music and on social media and there were revenge attacks, jurors were told.
Alexander travelled back to Hackney even though his family had moved away in a bid to distance him from the gang, the court heard. Following the fatal attack, the youth made 65 internet searches on his computer for Lianne Gordon.
Mr Fenhalls told jurors: “The only sensible conclusion to draw from this activity on this computer is that (the youth) had made it home in the early evening and was searching to see what was being reported about what he had done.” In January, rap lyrics were recovered from his cell referring to the shooting saying that Kaymound’s mother was “wigged”, the court heard.
Today, Judge Aubrey told the killer: “The background to your case is sadly all too familiar, it is one of turf wars, territory between gangs and consequential tragedy and grief.
“You are now 17 years of age, at the time of the commission of the offences you were 16 years and 10 months. She (Lianne Gordon) as I say was not the target in this pre-planned attack, of which I am satisfied, having resided over the trial, was in truth a determined attack by you with a firearm to execute members of a rival gang.
“She was in her own home, behind the front door, partly open. You, I have no doubt thought it to be another, she was shot through the head and died shortly after. Her home should have been a sanctuary, it was however where she met her death.
“You have devastated that family, their lives will never be the same. They all speak of her qualities and their loss, those qualities included being caring, kind, loving, larger than life, she touched everyone around her, she was fun and she was the rock of the family.
“You set off, I am satisfied, intending to kill. Not only did you intend to kill, you intended to kill others in a rival gang
“After your arrest on 8 December, I am satisfied you have shown no remorse whatsoever, notwithstanding that you have murdered an innocent person in her own home.
“You were not only glorifying that which you had done but also not caring about your victims. It was you who took the decision to return to gang life.”
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