Four jailed after shot fired through window of busy Ealing restaurant

Four men have been jailed after a shot was fired through the window of a busy Ealing restaurant in September 2022.

No one was injured in the shooting at about 9:30pm on a Tuesday evening and police used CCTV, phone data and vehicle GPS to track those behind the attack.

Lee Morgan, 42, of Leybourne, Nicholas Grant, 46, of no fixed abode and Elton Charles, 50, of Kensal Rise were found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence following a trial at Kingston Crown Court and at a hearing on Friday, 15 September, all three men were sentenced to five years in jail.

Nathanial St Aimie, 49, of Tooting had pleaded guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence on the second day of the trial and was sentenced to six years and three months' imprisonment.

The man who fired the shot was identified as Grant after CCTV showed him getting out of a white van that was later linked to a hire company. Investigations revealed that St Aimie had rented the van two months previously. He was found to have carried out reconnaissance of the restaurant the day before the shooting, and then arranged for his co-defendants to become involved.

WhatsApp messages and data recovered from the defendants’ phones revealed they had planned to meet up in the area with the aim of using the firearm to make financial gain.

Detective Constable Meechok Maingarm, who led the investigation, said: “This was a shocking attack and it was only by good fortune that no-one inside the premises suffered any injury. It left many of those present extremely shaken up and caused real fear to the restaurant’s owners.

“Our team worked exceptionally hard to identify those responsible, and the evidence collected was enough to prove that all four men were in touch prior to the incident and played their part in this deliberate and pre-planned shooting.”