Two men have been jailed after a shooting in which their injured victim cried out for help in an SE1 street.
Hamza El Bhaireien, 18, was jailed to eleven years behind bars on Tuesday. Osama Chafi, 22, was sentenced eleven years and four months.
The court heard how on June 16 last year, the pair had travelled as passengers in a Mercedes being driven by a 24-year-old.
CCTV captured the car going into an underground car park in Pimlico at around 9.20pm, leaving less than an hour later with just the driver inside.
At around 10.20pm, he pulled up on Royal Street in Waterloo and shouted out for help, saying he had been shot.
A resident rushed to his aid and flagged down a nurse and other emergency services.
The victim had been shot in his upper thigh. But despite spending a night in hospital because of the serious injury, the victim refused to cooperate with cops, officers say.
A key piece of the investigation was unlocked when a member of the public found a bullet on the floor of the car park and handed it over to police.
A motion sensor camera had recorded the sound of a gun being fired twice on the night of the shooting, say police.
CCTV also showed the two defendants, both from Paddington, running through the car park immediately afterwards and leaving, the court heard.
One of them was Chafi – who could be seen with the gun in his hand. It was later recovered in the city centre.
On July 16, Chafi was arrested.
But El Bhaireien fled the country and travelled to Morocco.
He was arrested when he got off the plane at Heathrow Airport on November 16.
Both confessed to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on the first day of their trial.
“The victim in this case was unsupportive of prosecution and refused to provide any details of what happened,” said investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Chris Ladmore.
“This, along with the fact there were no witnesses to the crime, made it a very difficult case to prove.
“However, thanks to the diligent work of the investigation team – including a meticulous trawl of CCTV in the area – the suspects were quickly identified and arrested.
“They denied the offences right up until the first day of the trial when they no doubt realised the extent of evidence against them left them with no other option but to admit their guilt.
“This successful prosecution means two violent individuals have been removed from London’s streets, as has the firearm itself.”