Young people guilty of shooting a woman through the front door

A teenager has been found guilty of murdering a mother who was shot in the head through her front door as she tried to protect her two children from a gang feud.

Lianne Gordon, 42, had only recently returned from a holiday in Jamaica when she was attacked at her home in Hackney, east London, on December 5, 2023, the Old Bailey was told.

She was the unintentional victim of a gang feud between neighborhood rivals, jurors heard.

A youth aged 17 had denied being the shooter but was found guilty of Ms Gordon’s murder after a trial at the Old Bailey.

A jury, which deliberated for 21 hours, found him guilty of attempting to kill a 17-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man, who were shot in the street during the same incident.

The youngster was also convicted of affray, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of a bladed article, but was cleared of threatening Mrs Gordon’s son with a knife.

Co-suspect Elijah Seriki, 21, from Hackney, was cleared of all charges against him on Wednesday.

At the time of the shooting, the teenage defendant was out on bail for attempted murder in connection with a separate incident last March.

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 came out of her room when she heard what she thought were fireworks.

Although the gunman was wearing a balaclava, she later had to tell police that she recognized her mother’s killer.

She said: “My mother had her hand on the door handle and it looked like she was trying to close the door. I could see the gun tip through the open door. I saw her fall. I went to her.

“As soon as my mother took her last breath and I was still hearing gunshots, I opened the front door and yelled at him and he stared me right in the face.

“He was wearing a balaclava or hood, but I could see enough of his eyes and nose to recognize him. He said nothing. Everything happened in slow motion. We stood facing each other for a few seconds, maybe five, before he walked away. We looked at each other and knew it was him.’

Mrs. Gordon died at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the head, while the two victims were treated outside in hospital.

Jurors heard the shooting was the culmination of a series of incidents.

Prosecutor Mark Fenhalls QC said the incidents stemmed from a dispute between two Hackney gangs: the Pembury Gang, with which the youth were associated; and the A-Road Gang, with whom Mr. Gordon was associated.

It was alleged the defendants threatened Mrs Gordon’s son with a large knife as he smoked a cigarette on his doorstep on October 1 last year, although they denied this.

On December 2, 2023, the youth were involved in a drive-by in rival territory involving a machete and a handgun, with four shots fired, jurors were told.

Mr Gordon, who uses a wheelchair, has denied membership in the A-Road Gang but says the trouble started in 2019 when his friend Dotz was murdered.

Over the years, both sides disrespected each other in music and on social media and there were revenge attacks, jurors were told.

The teenage defendant had traveled back to Hackney even though his family had moved in a bid to distance him from the gang, the court heard.

After the fatal shooting, the boy had searched the Internet for Lianne Gordon 65 times on his computer.

Mr Fenhalls told jurors: “The only sensible conclusion we can draw from this activity on this computer is that (the youth) had come home early in the evening and were 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 and saying Kaymound’s mother was “with a wedgie”, the court heard.

The boy had a string of previous convictions dating back to when he was 15 years old.

Among them was a conviction for attempted murder in connection with an incident at Hackney Central Station on March 1 last year, the court was told.

Mr Fenhalls said the suspect was involved in planning and passing on information but was not personally involved in the violence.