Paul Allen, involved in the Securitas robbery, was shot in 2019 after his release. Three men are accused of attempted murder.
The shooting occurred in 2019 in the kitchen of his rented house in Woodford Green, east London. Allen, then 41, was left paralyzed as a result of the attack.
The court heard that the attackers nearly succeeded in an attempted murder. Louis Ahearne, Stewart Ahearne, and Daniel Kelly are accused of plotting to murder Allen with other unknown individuals.
Prosecutor Michael Shaw stated at their trial that gunshots were fired on July 11, 2019, just after 11:09 pm. The shots were fired from a Glock handgun while Allen stood in his kitchen on Malvern Drive in Woodford. The men intended to kill Paul Allen that night.
Allen was shot about six times with the Glock, with two bullets hitting him. One bullet struck the center of his throat, causing his paralysis. Quick action, including help from neighbors, police, and paramedics, saved his life, and surgeons removed the bullet from his spine.
Mr. Shaw stated that the three men on trial planned and carried out the attack. Jurors learned that neighbors all over Woodford heard gunshots and called the police.
Allen’s partner, Jade Bovingdon, screamed, “He’s been shot! He’s been shot!” Neighbors rushed over to help, and Bovingdon requested an ambulance. Allen was struggling to breathe in the hallway while holding a towel to his neck, and one bullet nearly amputated his little finger.
A security guard provided first aid, and armed police arrived before paramedics. Other neighbors saw figures running away and getting into a rented Renault Captur, which sped away from the scene.
Police found shell casings by a summer house. DNA from a fence matched Kelly and Louis Ahearne. Shaw added that the shooters used an effective sight on the Glock handgun, and a similar sight was later found at Kelly’s place.
The prosecutor described Allen as a career criminal and a very sophisticated one. He had been convicted years ago for an armed robbery at Securitas Express in Kent, where £54 million in cash was stolen, much of which is still missing.
By 2019, he was out of prison, living with his partner and kids in a large house in Woodford, northeast London. The defendants came from Woolwich, southeast London, and traveled to Allen’s home through the Blackwall Tunnel as part of their plan.
Shaw asserted that they scouted the area, even on the morning of the shooting, and this was not a picnic. The court was told that they planned the attack carefully, using unregistered phones to talk and hiring vehicles.
Stewart Ahearne hired the Renault Captur in Dartford, which the others used to commit burglary the day before the shooting in Kent. CCTV cameras captured key events and showed Kelly doing reconnaissance in a Mercedes the morning before and earlier.
Allen arrived home that night in a white Ford Fiesta. He then went out in his Mercedes, which delayed their attack plan. Shaw told jurors they tracked Allen’s Mercedes using a tracking device.
Louis Ahearne lives in Greenwich, south-east London, while Stewart Ahearne and Kelly have no fixed address. They all deny plotting to murder Allen between June 26 and July 12, 2019.