The brother of Moses Fadairo today described the moment the younger man was shot dead in a busy Lower Clapton street, sending horrified shoppers and coffee drinkers running for cover.
Christopher Erunse, 28, is accused of shooting Moses, 25, in Chatsworth Road on September 26 last year.
Jurors at the Old Bailey were told he then took aim at Emmanuel, 28, and followed him as he sought refuge in the Mighty Meat butcher’s shop.
The younger Mr Fadairo, a new father of twin boys, was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to his chest, while the elder brother escaped unscathed.
Erunse, who had grown up with the brothers on the Pembury Estate, claims he acted in self-defence, after a third man, Anthony Ebe, spotted him from a taxi he and the two brothers had been riding in.
He told jurors the trio had jumped out of the cab and chased him down the market street.
Moses stabbed the defendant in the back of the leg as he was running away, it was said, before Erunse pulled out the gun and shot him.
Erunse, of Chalcombe Road, Abbey Wood, admits he had the gun, but denies murder, attempted murder and manslaughter.
The Old Bailey heard how a “tit for tat” dispute had escalated between the two factions in the days leading up to the incident.
Giving evidence today, Emmanuel was questioned about whether his “drugs line” – the “invaluable phone” with the names of the dealers’ clients – had been stolen from his “runner” on September 21, allegedly in the presence of the defendant Erunse.
“I understandably suggest you were unhappy for two reasons,” said the barrister defending Erunse. “Not only had your income gone with the drugs line, but also your mate. There was a breach of trust, wasn’t there? You felt he shouldn’t have let that happen, and you were angry about that, weren’t you?”
On September 23, as Moses was being charged with possession with intent to supply drugs – having allegedly been found with 70 wraps of cocaine hidden up his bottom two days before – Erunse claims Emmanuel came to track him down in a Canning Town car park as he carried out a drugs deal.
The defendant today alleged Emmanuel, armed with a Glock handgun, approached his car pointing the gun to his face and asking: “Where’s the phone?”
“You said these words: ‘Man should burn you now,’” said the defence barrister, “meaning: ‘I should kill you now’.”
Emmanuel denied being in the area, claiming he was at home.
Erunse reported his Audi car stolen that day, and he attended Homerton Hospital with two stab wounds to his leg.
Then at 2.30am on September 26 - the day Moses died - the court heard the door to the Fadairos’ mother’s home had been damaged.
Later that morning three people went to damage property inside Erunse’s sister’s home, it was said.
Later again, the brothers and Mr Ebe got in a cab headed for Erunse’s mother’s home, jurors were told.
“Why is that the end destination?” asked the defence barrister.
“My mother’s house got kicked in,” replied Emmanuel, “and I wanted to talk to Christopher and say: ‘What’s this about?’
“I believe that he done it.”
The barrister replied: “You know the expression ‘tooled up’. All three of you, I suggest, that day were armed with weapons that could kill.
“You knew when that postal code was entered into that vehicle’s sat nav, that journey was going to end up tracing tracking Erunse down with a view to attacking him with weapons.”
Emmanuel denied having a weapon – but his brother was found with a knife at the scene and another knife was found in the boot of the taxi.
“When that vehicle came to a halt in Chatsworth Road, all three of you got out, didn’t you, and all three of you – with Moses at the front approaching Erunse from behin – were aiming for him, weren’t you, as a target, weren’t you?” said the defence barrister.
Emmanuel replied: “My brother was very, very angry that our mother’s door got kicked in, so he did get out of the car, he did go up to him and as you said, yeah, he stabbed him in his leg.
“During the tussle of Chris and my brother I head a gunshot. I shouted, ‘gun,’ and I saw him collapse to the floor.”
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC asked Emmanuel: “If you had a gun, would you have run into the butcher’s shop and hidden behind the counter?”
“No way, man, I would have defended my brother and defended myself,” he replied.
The trial continues.
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