Teen guilty of shooting mum through front door
· BBC NewsJeremy Britton
BBC News
Reporting from
Old Bailey
A teenager has been found guilty of the murder of a 42-year-old mother who was shot dead through her front door as she tried to protect her children from gang violence.
Lianne Gordon had only just returned from a holiday in Jamaica with her two children when she was shot in the head inside her home in Hackney, east London, on 5 December 2023.
A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was convicted of her murder, as well as two counts of attempted murder, affray, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and having an article with a blade or point.
The Old Bailey heard Ms Gordon had been the unintended victim of a feud between rival local gangs.
Prosecutor Mark Fenhalls KC told the jury the defendant was associated with the Pembury Gang from Hackney and in the supply of Class A and B drugs.
The gang was in dispute with the Amhurst Road gang and the events leading up to Ms Gordon's murder appeared to be "an escalation of violence towards anyone believed to be associated with the A-Road gang."
On the day of the murder, Ms Gordon's son Kaymound received an Instagram message from the 17-year-old defendant saying "stop viewing my story and tell me where u friends are".
'I was screaming at him'
Both Ms Gordon's 16-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son were at home at the time of the killing.
The court was told at about 18:00 GMT, Ms Gordon's daughter had heard gunshots outside the house, which she initially thought was a fireworks fight.
As she went downstairs she could see her mother with her hand on the front door as if trying to close it and a "gun tip" poking through the open door.
"I saw her drop. I went to her," the 16-year-old told police.
"As soon as my mum took her last breath and I was still hearing gunshots and... I opened the front door and I was screaming at him... and he stared directly in my face."
She said a motion light had come on allowing her to see the defendant clearly and although he was wearing a balaclava, she could see of enough of his face to recognise him.
"Everything happened in slow motion. We were face on for a few seconds, maybe five, before he ran off," she told police.
Nearby the house she saw two men - Amani Adams-McGuire and a 16-year-old boy who was her boyfriend - who had also both been shot.
She said she had screamed at the attacker who then rode off on his bike.
A firearms expert told the court there was evidence of eight shots being fired from the same pistol on 5 December and that the gunshot fired through the front door in Vine Close had struck Ms Gordon in the head.
Police investigating the murder later discovered the 17-year-old defendant had made about 65 searches on a computer found in his bedroom about the killing.
"The only sensible conclusion to draw from this activity on this computer is that the defendant had made it home in the early evening and was searching to see what was being reported about what he had done," the prosecutor said.
Lyrics were also discovered in the defendant's prison cell describing the murder.
'Incalculable loss'
The teenager gave evidence and denied he was involved in any of the offences.
He had been on bail on a charge of attempted murder at the time of Ms Gordon's murder and was convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court afterwards, the court heard.
A second defendant - Elijah Seriki, 21, from Hackney - was acquitted of threatening another with a knife, affray, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and having an article with a blade or point.
The 17-year-old defendant was acquitted of threatening another with a knife.
The jury deliberated its verdicts for more than 21 hours.
Judge David Aubrey told the jury: "An innocent woman was murdered and her family’s loss is incalculable and they will live with that loss for the rest of their lives."
Sentencing was adjourned to a later date.