Gangster convicted after rapper gunned down outside restaurant

Craig Small, 32, who went by the nickname Smallz, was shot in north-west London.

Craig Small, 32, from Wembley, was gunned down near a shop (Met Police/PA) (PA Media)

A gangster has been found guilty of murdering a successful rapper who was shot in the face outside a pizza restaurant.

Craig Small, 32, who went by the nickname “Smallz”, was a rival gang member and musician who had featured in a music video called Bizzy.

A second intended target, Serge Mukendi, known as “Big French”, was also a musician and had appeared in the same video.

Following an Old Bailey retrial, Courtney Ellis was found guilty of murder and attempted murder on Friday.

They were carefully planned against a background of gang rivalry, which boiled over in summer 2019

Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC

Ellis was also convicted of perverting the course of justice alongside Christopher Kyei.

The defendants were said to be associated with a gang that operated in north-west London.

Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC had told jurors: “It is the prosecution case that these offences were not a spontaneous argument on the street.

“They were carefully planned against a background of gang rivalry, which boiled over in summer 2019.”

Mr Small was standing outside a pizza restaurant in Wembley, north-west London, when a gunman in dark clothes and a face mask ran towards him on the evening of July 5 2019.

Mr Orchard said: “The man fired the handgun once at Craig Small’s face.

The gunman stepped away from the victim, before moving nearer and discharging a second shot

Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC

“The shot was fired from less than a metre. The bullet struck Craig Small on the right cheek.

“Craig Small fell to the ground. The gunman stepped away from the victim, before moving nearer and discharging a second shot.”

That bullet missed and hit the pavement, sending a fragment into Mr Small’s left eye, the court heard.

The gunman ran off and got into a waiting Mini with cloned registration plates.

Seven minutes after the first shooting, the gunman got out of the Mini and ran towards a white Mercedes containing Mr Mukendi, which was parked a mile-and-a-half away.

He appeared to shoot towards the front windscreen but the gun “misfired” and no bullet was discharged.

The gunman then made off in the blue Mini before transferring to a black Volvo at a pre-arranged pick-up point.

The following day, two men, using a flat-bed pick-up truck, removed the Mini and arranged for its disposal, jurors were told.

Mr Small was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington where he died an hour after being shot.

The gunman, who has not been named by police, is still at large, Mr Orchard said.

Ellis, 38, from Brentford, west London, was “almost certainly” the driver of the Mini and helped to dispose of the car, jurors were told.

The other defendant, Kyei, 37, from Radlett, Hertfordshire, helped to dispose of the Mini, it was alleged.

The defendants denied the charges against them saying they were not involved in the murder although they declined to name those who were.

The defendants embraced in the dock following the verdicts.

Judge Philip Katz KC adjourned sentencing until a date to be fixed.

Following an earlier trial in 2022, Aaron Youngsam, 32, from Willesden, north-west London, was cleared of murder and attempted murder and Horraine Nicholas, 34, of Downs Road, Luton, was acquitted of perverting the course of justice.