12th April, 2024
Four men were on Friday sentenced to a total of 73 years by the Kingston Crown Court after being convicted of the Euston shooting in London.
On 14 January 2023, at approximately 13:30, a drive-by shooting was committed with a shotgun outside St Aloysius Roman Catholic Church in Euston, London, England, where a memorial service for two women had just ended.
A police investigation was launched that pieced together more than 2,000 hours of CCTV and identified four men now jailed for a total of 73 years.
Tyrell Lacroix, Jordan Walters, Alrico Nelson Martin and Jashy Perch were sentenced after they had previously been convicted at court on Thursday, 15 February.
The Met Police said at around 13:30hrs on 14 January 2023, they received a number of 999 calls to report a shooting outside a church on Phoenix Road, Euston.
The police said officers and paramedics responded and found four women and two girls had been injured after a shot was fired from a car into the back of a crowd of people who had turned to view doves being released from the church steps.
“They were taken to hospital to be treated. One of the girls was left with a metal pellet embedded in a muscle close to her heart which will have an impact for the rest of her life.
“One of the women was left with serious injuries that have impacted her hearing and balance. The other victims have recovered from their physical injuries. The car sped away leaving a scene of devastation in its wake and detectives began urgent enquiries to locate the driver,” the Met Police said.
The police added that the shooting happened in a built-up area and that officers worked quickly to recover nearby CCTV in the hope that one of the cameras would have captured the car involved.
“In total they viewed around 2,000 hours of footage to track the car as it made its escape. Video from a bus camera showed the car’s number plate and officers made checks to identify the owner.
“Unfortunately this wasn’t the breakthrough officers were hoping for as the car was travelling on cloned plates. They tracked down the owner of the actual car and he was ruled out of the investigation after providing a credible alibi. At around the same time officers identified Tyrell Lacroix as being involved in the shooting,” the police said.
The police said further enquiries were carried out, which they said included reviewing phone data which showed Tyrell had been in contact with two other men in the weeks before the attack.
They said planning began in November 2022 when Lacroix found the black Toyota car that would be used in the shooting, saying that Lacroix was part of a gang in north London and believed members of a rival gang would be at the memorial service.
The police added that over the weeks that followed, he was in contact with Jordan Walters and Alrico Nelson Martin, as Martin supplied the sawn-off shotgun.
They stated that days before the shooting, in early January, Lacroix and Walters visited the church to survey the area, as detectives analysed phone location data to prove they were together in the area.
“On 14 January 2023, Lacroix and Walters were with a third man, Jashy Perch, at his home in Watford. Detectives recovered taxi booking records which proved Martin had gone to the property at around midday to deliver the gun.
“A short time later, Lacroix and Perch left Willesden for Euston. They did a number of circuits outside the church before one of them opened fire into the crowd. As the mourners were left scared for their lives, the group fled the scene,” the Met police said.
The Met said officers, who are experts in CCTV recovery, obtained footage and tracked their five-mile getaway through north London, which showed them overtaking cars, driving on the wrong side of the road, and jumping a red light.
Detective Inspector Darren Jones, from the Specialist Crime Trident Investigation team, said these dangerous men brought unimaginable fear and horror to the streets of London, saying he was pleased police investigation had resulted in them being removed from the community for a considerable time.
“The innocent women and girls who were injured will have to deal with the impact of the shooting for the rest of their lives, something that Lacroix, Perch, Walter and Nelson-Martin will have time to consider as they serve their sentences.
“Our investigation was complex and extensive. It involved recovering and viewing around 2,000 hours of CCTV and piecing together a significant amount of phone location data to identify those responsible.
“Our Specialist Crime Trident Investigation teams are committed to the Met’s mission to tackle violence against women and girls. This investigation demonstrates our relentless determination to identify dangerous offenders and bring them to justice.
“I hope that the justice handed down today brings the victims a small measure of comfort and closure,” he said.
Enquiries continue to identify a third man who was in the car at the time of the shooting.
Lacroix, 23 of Dorman Way was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to wound with intent to cause serious harm.
Perch, 20 , of Churchfields Road, Watford was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to wound with intent to cause serious harm, for having an offensive weapon and possession of cannabis.
Jordan Walters, 24 of Hilltop Avenue, Brent was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to wound with intent to cause serious harm, while Alrico Nelson-Martin, 20 of Griffin Close, Brent was also convicted of possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life and was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to wound and possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life.