A gangster from Radlett has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice after a rapper was gunned down outside a restaurant in London.

Christopher Kyei, 37, appeared at the Old Bailey last Friday (January 26), alongside Courtney Ellis, 38, from Brentford, who was found guilty of murder and attempted murder.

The defendants were said to be associated with a gang that operated in north-west London.

On the evening of July 5, 2019, Craig Small, 32, who was a rival gang member and musician, was standing outside a pizza restaurant in Wembley, when a gunman in dark clothes and a face mask ran towards him.

"The man fired the handgun once at Craig Small’s face," said Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC.

"The shot was fired from less than a metre. The bullet struck Craig Small on the right cheek.

"Craig Small fell to the ground. The gunman stepped away from the victim, before moving nearer and discharging a second shot."

The second bullet missed, but hit the pavement and sent a fragment into Mr Small’s left eye, the court heard.

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The gunman ran off and got into a waiting MINI with cloned registration plates, only to get out of the vehicle seven minutes after the shooting, and move towards a white Mercedes.

Inside was Serge Mukendi, an intended second target, but as the shooter attempted to fire towards the windscreen, the gun misfired and he fled the scene.

The following day, two men, one of which was alleged to be Kyei, used a flat-bed pick-up truck to remove and dispose of the MINI.

Mr Small was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington where he died an hour after being shot.

The gunman, who has not been named by police, is still at large, while Mr Orchard said Ellis was "almost certainly" the driver of the getaway vehicle and helped to dispose of the car.

"It is the prosecution case that these offences were not a spontaneous argument on the street. They were carefully planned against a background of gang rivalry, which boiled over in summer 2019," he added.

The defendants denied the charges against them, claiming they were not involved in the murder before declining to name those who were.

The defendants embraced in the dock following the verdicts, with Judge Philip Katz KC adjourning sentencing until a date to be fixed.

Following an earlier trial in 2022, Aaron Youngsam, 32, from Willesden, was cleared of murder and attempted murder, and Horraine Nicholas, 34, of Downs Road in Luton, was acquitted of perverting the course of justice.