Tragic gun victim Tanesha Melbourne’s father was jailed for nine years for handing a gun to a masked man who shot a motor dealer in an incident which led to the arrest of Mark Duggan.
Conrad Kingdom, 45, was convicted in 2007, when Tanesha was seven. He had roared up to a garage on the back of a motorbike carrying a loaded handgun that was then used by a balaclava-wearing thug to shoot a mechanic.
Mark Duggan, the gangster whose death by police in 2011 sparked the London riots, was friends with Kingdom. Duggan was arrested in the search for the identity of the masked gunman but was later released without charge.
A screengrab of Tanesha Melbourne from the newly emerged video, left, and the victim posing more recently, right
The revelations provide new background for the brutal killing of Tenesha who was shot in the chest in a drive-by attack at 9.35pm on Monday.
The teenager, who had just become a mentor at her local youth club, died in the street as she was cradled by her mother who arrived before paramedics.
Footage from a local shop shows her walking with her friends around 60 minutes before she was shot dead. It comes as new video discovered by MailOnline shows Tanesha taking part in a discussion with Haringey council officials in 2015.
Tanesha’s father, Kingdom, listed on his daughter’s birth certificate as a panel beater and mechanic, committed the firearm crime when he got involved in an altercation between his friend Christopher Hibbert and mechanic Serkan Hossein on May 5 2016, which ended with Hossein being shot.
The dispute, which had been escalating for some years, began when Hibbert’s £5,000 Alfa Romeo went missing when it was being serviced by Hossein and his father, Sali Hossein, in North London Motor Engineering on the Ealy Industrial Estate, Edmonton. The mechanics refused to pay compensation for the car.
The Old Bailey heard how Hibbert vowed: ‘B****cks to this, I am going to get my motorbikes and come back. You’ll see.’ He threatened to chop up Sali Hossein and kidnap or kill his son Serkan.
Prosecutor Brendan Finnucane QC said: ‘About three quarters of an hour later two motorbikes did draw up outside the garage one ridden by Hibbert and the other with two men on the back.
‘One of the men was wearing a balaclava but the other was identified at Kingdom. A customer asked the men not to cause any trouble but Mr Hibbert said he talked too much and claimed he was coming to “take my money or a life”.
‘The men then began to attack the garage owner and his son. A firearm was produced and it appears to have been passed between the men.’
Mark Duggen, whose death at the hands of armed police in 2011 sparked the London riots which caused widespread damage
A woman (pictured left in grey trousers) lay on top of the victim in the Tinseltown fight to protect him, before he was able to get to his feet and flee (pictured right)
The 17-year-old (pictured in the grey) was seen on camera walking with her friends before she was shot dead
The court heard how threats were made that Serkan would be shot. He picked up a hammer to try and defend himself but Hibbert took it off him and hit another worker, Dushti Deziae, fracturing his skull.
The confrontation took an even more violent turn when other mechanics began to pick up makeshift weapons in an attempt to get the men out of the garage.
The prosecutor continued: ‘There came a point when Mr Hibbert became aware he would have to fight himself out of the situation. He was heard to clearly shout “shoot the c**t, shoot the c**t”. Serkan was then shot in the chest by the unknown third man a gun having been passed to him by Conrad Kingdom.
‘Thus being shot in the chest, calling out for his father, he collapsed on the floor.’ Serkan needed emergency surgery after the bullet penetrated a kidney and came out of his lower back. Despite losing massive amounts of blood, he recovered.
Kingdom, who had no previous history of violence or gun crime, ‘acted out of loyalty to a friend and got embroiled in a matter not of his making’, the court heard. He admitted he had acted as a courier for guns but did not know they were loaded at the time.
Mark Duggan was arrested in the search for the third man who was allegedly with Hibbert and Kingdom at the scene and wearing a balaclava, who has never been traced.
Kingdom was convicted by a majority of 11 to one of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possession of ammunition without a certificate, and sentenced to nine years.
The violence took place 10 years before Tenesha was shot dead in a dispute allegedly sparked by a fight between youths in a milkshake bar.
Footage of the punch-up, filmed on mobile phones on Easter Sunday, was shared on Twitter and Snapchat and led to a gunman attacking Tanesha Melbourne in Tottenham on Monday night, locals said.
Police probing Tanesha’s murder swooped on the Tinseltown diner in Farringdon, London, and seized CCTV of the fight which shows three men punching and kicking a young black male in a stairwell as a woman lies on top of the victim trying to protect him.
While Tanesha is not thought to be in the clip, youngsters claim it was linked to simmering gang violence in the Wood Green area of north London.
They say the video was the catalyst for the gunman opening fire 24 hours later, and shooting Tanesha.
Tanesha became the 48th person to be murdered in London this year, after getting caught up in a terrifying postcode war ravaging the streets of the capital.
Tanesha’s mother Sharon Melbourne arrived at the scene before paramedics and cradled her daughter in her arms as she died near her house in Tottenham.
Also on Monday night, a 16-year-old named locally as Amaan Shakoor, was shot in the face just a few miles away in Walthamstow by ‘rival drug dealers’, according to a friend.
He died later in hospital, making him the 49th victim of the continuing bloodshed.
Earlier this week, Scotland Yard commissioner Cressida Dick said gangs were using online platforms to glorify street violence and show off ‘with weapons’.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd is set to launch a crackdown on online companies later this week.
On the same night Tanesha (right) was shot, a 16-year-old, named locally as Amaan Shakoor (left), was shot in the face in Walthamstow by ‘rival drug dealers’. He died later in hospital
According to terrified residents, the innocent teenager was caught in the crossfire of a deadly postcode war.
One friend said: ‘Tanesha was just an innocent child caught up in this stupid postcode war.’
Another friend who desperately tried to save her added: ‘She did not deserve that and her mum did not deserve to watch her daughter die.’
The teenager’s aunt said how she told police about escalating gang problems three months ago and warned them: ‘If anything happens to a member of my family, I’ll become a problem.’
Rita How, 56, made the prophetic warning at a neighbourhood watch meeting at Tottenham College earlier this year.
She told police officers present of the worsening drugs and gangs problem in the area which had led to a rise in stabbings and shootings.
Tanesha’s godmother cried as she lay flowers at the crime scene before calling on Theresa May to put more funds in policing and reintroduce the use of stop and search
Floral tributes have been left for Tanesha Melbourne-Blake on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham
Police continue to investigate the scene in Tottenham, amid reports at least three shots were fired in the attack
Tanesha’s mother Sharon Melbourne and her little sister arrived to lay flowers at the scene
ACTOR ACCUSED OF KILLING WOMAN, 80
Harry Goodwin-Sims, 29, outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court
An aspiring actor accused of killing an 80-year-old woman was remanded in custody today.
Harry Goodwin-Sims, 29, is said to have pushed over Ourania Lambrou in Kentish Town on 31 March.
Prosecutor Henry Fitch told Westminster Magistrates’ Court Ms Lambrou was admitted to the Royal Free Hospital and later discharged.
But she died on Tuesday night after doctors discovered a bleed on her brain and her condition worsened.
Goodwin-Sims, from Finsbury Park, north London, is charged with manslaughter and assault by beating.
He was remanded in custody ahead of a plea, trial and preparation hearing at Southwark Crown Court on May 2.
The actor has more than 10,000 followers on Twitter and, according to his filmography worked on two recent films ‘I Need Money’ and ‘The Overground’ alongside Pirates of the Caribbean actor Norberto Moran.
In a separate incident, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the face less than two miles away in Walthamstow, east London.
He died at 5.45pm last night and became the 49th person to be killed in the capital. A 15-year-old boy was also stabbed in that incident.
Ms How, a school cook, also revealed the fears she had for her family living in the area.
She said: ‘I met with the police three months ago at the last neighbourhood watch meeting and told them what was going on with the gangs and the violence.
‘I said to them ‘if anything happens to a member of my family then I’ll become a problem’.
‘Well my niece is gone now and they are not going to hear the end of me. Someone’s got to sort out the mess here, it’s getting out of hand.
‘Tanesha was a lovely girl, she wasn’t involved in gangs. She was innocent in all this.’
Ms How, who also works in security at nearby Tottenham Hotspur football club, said her niece had worked at the old White Hart Lane ground.
She added: ‘She worked in the catering department on a few occasions. She had a bright future, she was a good girl who didn’t deserve this.’
Tanesha’s godmother cried as she lay flowers at the crime scene before calling on Theresa May to put more funds in policing and reintroduce the use of stop and search.
Lisa Robinson, from Stratford, east London, said: ‘I’ve known her all her life. Tanesha could put a smile on your face and she had a big heard, she was caring, active and full of life and what’s happened here is a tragedy to say the least.
‘She is a good girl, bubbly, just a happy, beautiful young lady. Tanesha’s has gone too soon and to be honest they need to put the police back on the street to stop things like happening.’
The controversial police policy to use a high amount stop and searches to tackle gun and knife crime in the capital has been criticised for alienating black young men.
But Ms Robinson said: ‘Everyone might not be keen about Stop and Search but if it’s a measure that can help reduce crime or save a life then until they can put other measures in then it’s what they should do.’
The streets of London are now more deadly than New York, with the capital recording a higher murder rate for the first time in modern history in February.
So far this year, the Metropolitan Police has launched 50 murder investigations – 12 in January, 15 in February, 19 in March and now four in April.
MP David Lammy has claimed the surge in violent crime in the capital is being fuelled by ‘vast’ quantities of cocaine being fought over by drug barons.
Floral tributes were left on Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, north London, today
Friends and family arrived to pay respects at the scene of the killing, London’s 48th this year