A gunman who tried to flee to Amsterdam after shooting dead a childhood friend in broad-daylight has been jailed for 18 years.

Christopher Erunse, 28, opened fire on young father Moses Fadairo, 25, in a confrontation outside a butchers shop in Hackney.

Customers at restaurants and cafes nearby ran for cover when Moses chased after and stabbed Erunse in the leg, and he retaliated by opening fire.

The Old Bailey heard Moses and his older brother Emmanuel had been hunting down Erunse in a taxi on September 26 last year over a drug dispute, leaping out to confront him in Chatsworth Road just after 1pm.


Emmanuel dodged the bullets as he hid in the Mighty Meat butcher's shop, but Moses, a new father of twins from Bow, was struck once in the chest and died at the scene.

Moses Fadairo
Christopher Erunse, 28, gunned down Moses Fadairo, 25, in Chatsworth Road, Lower Clapton, on September 26 last year.


The younger Fadairo, a new father of twin boys, was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to his chest, while the elder escaped unscathed.


Killed in broad daylight: Moses Fadairo (Metropolitan Police)
Erunse, of Chalcombe Road, Greenwich, was cleared of murder and attempted murder by a jury but found guilty of manslaughter and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

His accomplice, Bradley Wynter, 28, admitted carrying the gun away from the scene of the shooting, and is due to be sentenced later.

He had been in Percy Ingle's bakery at the time of the shooting, but had been caught on CCTV dropping the weapon while carrying it away wrapped in his jacket.

Judge Wendy Joseph QC said the shooting was part of a spiral of "tit for tat revenge".

"The effect of it has rolled on and will roll on perhaps forever - the impact is huge and the damage irreparable", she said.

"A young man of 24 has lost his life and his children left fatherless. His mother has been left inconsolable and unable to come to terms with what's happened, and his siblings are bereft."

She said Erunse had chosen to live in "a world of violence and drugs", and chose to carry a loaded gun rather than go to the police for help when he got into the dispute with the Fadairo brothers.

"You armed yourself with a loaded weapon and went on to the high street at the busiest time of day on the busiest day of the week", she said.

"Frankly it's a miracle no innocent passerby was shot and badly injured in the scenes that unfolded."

Erunse was arrested three days after the shooting as he sat on a plane that was about to take off from Birmingham Airport.

As he was being led away by officers, he said into a mobile phone: "I've been nabbed."



Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said Erunse had grown up with the Fadairo brothers in Hackney as friends, but their relationship soured over some missing drugs.

"The fatal incident took place at around lunchtime on that same Saturday in Chatsworth Road, a busy road in Hackney", he said.

"It was a sunny day. People were eating outside at cafes and restaurants, parents were out shopping with their children.

"What followed was, on any view, quite outrageous."

Wynter, who has spent most of his adult life in prison, claims he threw the gun into the Thames after the shooting.

Bradley Wynter

Bradley Wynter
He had grown up with the brothers on the Pembury Estate. Erunse claimed he acted in self-defence after Moses stabbed him in the back of his leg as he was running away from the brothers and their friend Anthony Ebe – who had all jumped out of a taxi to chase him.

A second man, Bradley Wynter, 28, from the Pembury Estate, Lower Clapton, was captured on CCTV helping Erunse flee the scene having been passed the firearm that he had tried to hide in his jacket.

He had previously pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm.

Erunse was arrested by officers from West Midlands Police on board a plane at Birmingham International Airport on September 29, as he attempted to make his way to Amsterdam.

He admitted he had the gun, but denied murder, attempted murder and manslaughter.

Det Ch Insp Andrew Packer, of the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “This case began with two long-term friends falling out with each other.

“Whilst it may never be clear what led to this breakdown, the subsequent animosity grew into violence and resulted in a man losing his life.

“It was nothing short of a miracle that members of the public going about their daily business were not killed or badly injured during this incident.”

Erunse and Wynter will be sentenced next week.

Source:Source:http://ebalsblog..co.uk/2016/06/nigerian-man-jailed-for-18-years-after.html