I guess the criminals wern't paying attention.
I love the one about the Uzi machinegun

February 11, 2002

From "The Sunday Times of London"

Two shot dead in revenge after bar-room brawl
By Stewart Tendler and David Brown


TWO drinkers were shot dead outside a quiet suburban public house in a revenge attack over a bar-room brawl, police said yesterday.
The dead men were blasted with a shotgun. A friend who was with them was stabbed in the attack by three men in the car park of the Good Companions public house in Sanderstead, South Croydon.

Anthony Ellison, 27, from Coulsdon, South London, and Michael Jones, 25, from nearby South Croydon, both unemployed, were killed in what a senior detective said was an “horrific retaliatory crime”.

The murders come amid growing worry at Scotland Yard and the Home Office about the rise of armed crime in London. On Wednesday David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, is meeting Rudolph Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, to discover how he cut violent crime.

Friends and family of the two dead men gathered outside the Good Companions yesterday to pay their respects. Many of the mourners were in tears as they inspected a pile of flowers left in tribute.

One message on the flowers said: “To Michael, you’ll never be forgotten, goodnight mate and sleep tight.” Another said: “Dear Ant, a top bloke. Always remember you.”

The third man who is also in his 20s is believed to have been stabbed up to 13 times. Yesterday he was being treated at the Mayday Hospital in Croydon. His condition was said to be serious but stable.

Detectives believe that the dead men were members of a party of five drinkers who had been at the bar of the White Lion in Warlingham, Surrey, early on Saturday evening. The pub was not their regular haunt and an argument developed which ended in a fight. All five were thrown out of the public house and walked to the Good Companions where they often drank.

About 40 minutes after the fight three men, all thought to be in their 40s or 50s, turned up in a car looking for revenge and carrying at least one shotgun. They caught three of the five in the car park and opened fire on them before fleeing.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Heseldon said: “The early indication is that this a case of massive overreaction. There is nothing to suggest this is drug-related, gang- related or anything else.”

He said: “We are keeping an open mind as to the motive, but it does appear to be retaliatory action as a result of the earlier altercation. It is an horrific crime, particularly in such a quiet, peaceful area.”

A man in his 50s was under arrest for the murders yesterday and being questioned by detectives. Police are also looking for two other men.

One is in his late 30s or early 40s, about 5ft 10in, slim, with short black hair and a goatee beard. He was wearing a green fleece jacket. The other man is described as between 6ft and 6ft 2in, slim, believed to be in his 50s, with greased-back short mousey brown hair.

Police firearms experts are examining three shotguns and ammunition found in a car in Surrey after the shooting. The guns were all legally held.

The Good Companions was sealed off by police. Residents near by said that the management of the pub had changed recently.

Mushuk Ahmed, who works at a nearby takeaway restaurant, said: “There used to be quite a lot of trouble at the pub but all that seems to have changed over the past two years.

“This is a really quiet area. No one here can believe what has happened. I was working on Saturday night and went out to see what had happened. There was blood all over the car park and I saw one man being carried into an ambulance.”

Friends of the two dead men were too upset yesterday to discuss details of what had happened.

“They were just lovely guys. Everybody around here knew them and loved them,” said one woman. “Nobody can believe this has happened. I can’t believe we won’t see them again.”

Mr Jones lived with his mother, Marion, and older brother, Richard, in a semidetached house less than half a mile from the Good Companions. Friends and neighbours said that he was obsessed with restoring cars.

The rising toll from gun crimes

London firearms murders rose 44 per cent to 36 deaths last year. Three involved Turkish gangs, three involved Asian gangs and four were underworld killings. There were 67 attempted murders. Gun crime has already cost nine lives this year.


January 1: DJ Ashley Kenton, 22, killed after a row with another man at a party in Hackney. The bullet passed through a partition wall and killed Wayne Mowatt, 29, in the next room.

January 2: An Asian student, 19, shot and wounded in the head in Walthamstow by a mugger stealing her mobile phone.

January 3: Police report three children threatened by a mugger in a take-away shop in South London.

January 14: Edmund Guulan, a Kosovan in his 20s, shot dead and two friends wounded after a row between gangs outside a public house in Palmers Green, North London.

January 22: A woman, 31, shot in the stomach as two Yardies argued outside a shop in Tulse Hill.

January 26: Brynmor Lindup, 54, killed in a suspected underworld contract murder in Ilford.

January 30: Keiron Bernard, 25, a record producer, killed in a shooting at a restaurant in Shepherds Bush.

February 5: Terence Buckley, 22, killed in his car in NW8.

February 8: A man, 26, killed in Yardie “spray and pray” killing with an Uzi machinegun in an ambush in Battersea.

No, guns are very tightly regulated, but still legal in England.  In fact, my brother-in-law's family is involved in the gun business in London making fine shotguns for those who can get the proper licenses and can afford the guns (which means usually only the wealthy and the royalty).

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As was said, only the wealthy and royals are allowed to even own hunting shotguns and rifles.  The class structure has always been evident in English law.  All the guns used in these shootings, including handguns, are illegal.