A former cage fighter, who was found guilty of participating in Britain’s largest cash heist, was shot in the neck while in his kitchen in east London shortly after his release from prison, according to court proceedings.
In 2019, Paul Allen, who was 41 at the time, suffered life-long paralysis after assailants opened fire at his residence in Woodford Green.
During the trial at the Old Bailey, jurors were informed that the shooters aimed to kill him and came alarmingly close to achieving that goal.
Louis Ahearne, 36, his sibling Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, face charges of conspiracy to murder him alongside unidentified accomplices. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
As the trial commenced on Wednesday, prosecutor Michael Shaw outlined the events, stating: “On July 11, 2019, shortly after 11:09 PM, shots were discharged from a self-loading Glock 9mm pistol.
“The men behind the shooting were intent on ending Paul Allen’s life that night.
“They almost succeeded. At least six rounds were fired from the Glock, with two hitting their target.
“One bullet struck the center of his throat and resulted in his permanent paralysis.”
The loud gunfire echoed throughout Woodford, prompting multiple emergency calls to the police, the jurors heard.
Neighbors living adjacent to Mr. Allen reported hearing the gunfire, coupled with the sound of his partner, Jade Bovingdon, shouting, “He’s been shot! He’s been shot!”
They rushed over to find Ms. Bovingdon pleading for an ambulance while Mr. Allen was found collapsed in the hallway, clutching a towel to his neck and gasping for air, according to court testimonies.
Mr. Shaw noted that one bullet had “almost severed” his little finger.
Witnesses reported seeing one to three individuals fleeing the scene and entering a getaway vehicle—a rented Renault Captur—which sped away.
Following the shooting, crime scene investigators were assigned to the location and recovered five shell casings near a garden shed.
DNA evidence collected from a fence panel in the vicinity matched those of Kelly and Louis Ahearne, the court was informed.
The prosecutor elaborated on the context of the shooting, explaining that Mr. Allen had a criminal background and was “a highly skilled criminal.”
He informed the jury that Mr. Allen had been convicted years earlier at Woolwich Crown Court for his involvement in what remains Britain’s largest armed robbery, which took place at Securitas Express in Kent, where £54 million was stolen, with a significant portion of the funds still unaccounted for.
By 2019, he had completed his prison sentence and relocated from south London to a spacious detached home in Woodford, where he lived with his partner and young children.
The accused had traveled from their residences in the Woolwich area of southeast London through the Blackwall Tunnel to the victim’s new address on Malvern Drive as part of the conspiracy’s planning and execution, jurors were told.
Mr. Shaw explained to the jury that they were “not merely out for a leisurely outing” while they surveyed the area around the victim’s home, including on the morning of the shooting.
To carry out the meticulously planned attack, the assailants reportedly utilized untraceable pay-as-you-go mobile phones for communication and rented vehicles, the court learned.
The Renault Captur was reportedly rented by Stewart Ahearne from a dealership in Dartford and was allegedly used by the two other defendants in a burglary at a gated community in Kent the day before the shooting.
Jurors were shown that security cameras from a nearby property captured “crucial” moments from that night, including Kelly allegedly conducting reconnaissance in a Mercedes on the morning prior as well as on previous days.
Louis Ahearne, from Greenwich in southeast London, along with Stewart Ahearne and Kelly, both of no fixed address, have all denied conspiracy to murder Mr. Allen between June 26 and July 12, 2019.
