THE brother of a rapper murdered outside his home in South Norwood immediately believed he was the intended target, a court has heard.
Minutes after Umar Tufail, 25, was shot in the head, his younger brother Amir, 18, told a police office the bullet had been meant for him, adding: "I have a lot of enemies."
One of his rivals was Sanchez Thomas, a member of the Squeeze Section gang who had been driving the car which pulled up alongside Umar in Wharncliffe Road, South Norwood, on July 15 last year.
Kyrone Daley, a passenger in the vehicle, alleges Thomas pulled out a handgun and shot the talented singer because of his feud with Amir, while Thomas says a third person in the car was the shooter.
The two friends are charged with murder under joint enterprise.
The Old Bailey had previously been read Daley's defence statement which alleges Amir, known by the street name Renz and a member of Croydon's Block Cartel gang, had threatened Thomas with a knife in Regina Road, South Norwood, in October 2011 and then stabbed him during an incident in Tooting in March 2012.
Jurors heard today (Friday) that before the shooting, a member of Squeeze Section had cycled past the brothers' home as Amir was going inside.
On the afternoon of the killing, Amir and his friend Stephen Crawford, 18, were playing computer games in an upstairs bedroom when they heard a gunshot.
Crawford went to the window and drew the curtain in time to see a grey car drive away.
As they ran downstairs, Amir picked up, and then dropped, a knife before shouting: "Umar has been shot."
They rushed outside and found Umar slumped over the wheel of his family's red Vauxhall Corsa with a gunshot wound to the side of the head.
Jurors were told that Mr Crawford called 999 but when police arrived he gave them a false name.
Michael Borrelli QC, representing Thomas, asked Amir: "It was your view at the time that it may have been you who was the intended victim of the shooting, is that correct?"
"Yes," said Amir.
Mr Borrelli continued: "Do you remember telling a female police officer that you had a lot of enemies?"
"Yes," the teenager replied.
Umar, an aspiring rapper who performed under the name Humuh, was taken to King's College Hospital but died the following day.
Daley claims Thomas offered him a lift to his girlfriend Natasha Henry's house in Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, on the day of the shooting.
On the way, he alleges they stopped outside a house in Wharncliffe Road and Thomas began to talk to Umar.
"Thomas repeatedly accused the victim of being Renz, which he denied," said prosecution barrister William Boyce QC, reading from Daley's statement.
"He reached down below the driver's seat and drew out what transpired to be a firearm, which the defendant (Daley) was completely unaware he had in his possession.
"When Thomas established that the victim was the brother of Renz he, without notice, shot him."
Amir told jurors that while he and his brother looked similar, "if you knew us, you could tell us apart".
Thomas, known by the name Limits, claims that a third passenger in the car, picked up during the journey after asking for a lift to Spa Hill, shot Umar.
Last Tuesday he revealed the identity of the alleged killer for the first time, blaming a member of Croydon gang Don't Say Nothing (DSN) known by the nickname Pauser.
"In Wharnciffe Road the defendant Thomas saw the brother of Amir Tufail," said Mr Boyce.
"He stopped the car to see if he could resolve the situation he had with the younger brother.
"Before he could speak, the third person took over and spoke to Umar through the car window. He asked him about a time when the third man was stabbed by Amir.
"The defendant Thomas saw his arm move and suddenly there was a gun shot."
Thomas claims he "panicked" and drove off, before the killer ordered him to stop the car and left.
Extensive CCTV footage shows the grey Vauxhall Corsa travelling to the scene of the shooting and then back to Unity Close, West Norwood, where Daley and Thomas both live.
At no point can a third person be seen in the car or being picked up. Police tracked down Pauser but found from his phone records that he was in Maidstone, Kent, at the time.
After Thomas was presented with this "cast iron" alibi, he claimed to have been talking about a different member of DSN also called Pauser.
"He has backed himself completely into a corner," said Mr Boyce.
After returning to Unity Close, Daley and Thomas took a minicab to a friend's house in Fulham where they remained until travelling to Ms Henry's.
The car was seized the following day and gunshot residue was later found on Thomas' top.
Daley and Thomas both deny murder.
The trial continues.
