the trail of text messages
Allen had been receiving a series of threatening text messages before the shooting – many from undisclosed numbers crowing about his past criminality.
Following his recovery, one message promised “I will never forget you,” another advised him to “give yourself up before it’s too late” and a third ominously informed him “You will be terminated.”
When Allen’s Mercedes was burnt out the night before the shooting, chillingly, a forensic examination of the car revealed a Tupperware tub containing traces of petrol. Around the same time, the Ahearnes, Kelly and Lucic had hired a car with an identical registration plate to the Mercedes.
Metropolitan police
Police also discovered the hotel at which the trio were residing in Leytonstone had been booked under a false name. By the time officers were able to raid the property, the three had fled.
“Every mobile device officers seized from the defendants was secured with encryption,” police said.
During the trial Allen remained outwardly unchanged – wheeling himself into the court every morning as the prosecution called witness after witness to account for their tales of the three’s criminality.
‘A rose between two thorns’
Senior Investigating Officer Inspector Bonnar said: “Paul Allen is indeed a dangerous man, but he was still our chief witness in this case.”
As the trial progressed in October last year, it emerged for the first time that a golden bullet casing had been found in the back garden of Allen’s home the day after the shooting.
Getty Images
Further forensic examinations on the bullet casing revealed female DNA including that of Kelly, and a familial link to the Ahearne brothers.
Lucic was not charged by police in connection with the shooting; he was convicted for assault and theft in Tower Hamlets Crown Court last February.
‘I couldn’t forgive myself’
In a U-turn on the final day of the trial, Louis admitted conspiracy to murder. Stewart and Kelly were both convicted in their absence after they failed to appear in court to enter pleas.
“The three of you played a significant role in prolonging the misery inflicted on Paul Allen and his family,” Judge Barish Hayward said before she handed down the three sentences which amount to 42 years in total.
After the court case, Allen said: “I still can’t believe my ‘best mates’ were behind this. They are the ones who assisted me after the shooting and visited me in hospital.”
Today he is trying to piece his life back together – having recently hosted a barbecue in his garden a year to the day bullets pierced his body. Neighbours heard laughter coming from the sports park he inhabited before the attack.
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