Timothy Thomas

Timothy Thomas was shot during a robbery at a house in George Street, Lozelles, on 21 June 1995.

Two men were tried but it is assumed they were acquitted. It is known that one of them was found not guilty and subsequently deported and that he later returned to the UK and was convicted of murder in 2006 after he killed three members of a family at a flat on the Stonebridge Estate. The man was described as a Yardie and had shot them after a drugs mule disappeared with 4kg of cocaine. He was reported to have said the no one took him for a pussy. He was sentenced to 40 years. It is assumed that the other man tried for Timothy Thomas’s murder was also acquitted, however, no report of that can be found.

It was also noted that a third man described as having been involved in the violence in Birmingham was never traced.

Timothy Thomas was shot twice during a robbery at a house in George Street, Lozelles. Two other people that he had been with at the property were also shot, it being noted that one of them had been saved from serious injury after the bullet hit a penny coin that she had had on her.

Three men were said to have burst into the property shortly before midnight. Timothy Thomas and the other man had been alone together at the time the men burst in, waiting for the man's girlfriend to arrive to pick him up.

The man had been waiting for his girlfriend outside at the time. He had arrived at the house earlier at about 8pm and had been watching television with Timothy Thomas and drinking strong cider. He said that he heard a horn and, thinking it was his girlfriend, went to look and saw two men coming through the back gate, and said that one of them pointed a gun at him and ordered him indoors. He said that he told them that he didn't live there and asked whether it was a joke, but that a third man arrived and he was hit on the head with a gun and forced into the kitchen inside. He said they were then put in the bedroom and their hands tied with adhesive tape. 

When the man's girlfriend arrived, she was lured inside and the men were assaulted and the girlfriend forced to hand over her jewellery. The other man said that the men started to beat them up, and were demanding money from Timothey Thomas, who he referred to as Lips. 

However, it was said that the men then suddenly started shooting at them, resulting in Timothy Thomas being hit twice, after which he jumped out of a window and ran off, but collapsed soon after.

The man said:

He said that once he was outside he saw Timothy Thomas lying in the road and saw the three gunmen flee.

Timothy Thomas had been shot in the chest and then again in the right leg. The other man was shot in the thigh, but survived. He also escaped through the window. The woman also jumped out of the window, and suffered only from some cuts and bruises and a knee injury, it being later found that a penny in her left pocket had stopped a bullet from causing more serious injury.

The other man that was shot said that he would never forget the gunmen's faces.

The shooting was described as having been:

The three men involved were described as:

Man A:

• Afro-Caribbean.
• Early 20s.
• Slim.
• Wearing a white baseball cap with a matching t-shirt.

Man B:

• Afro-Caribbean.
• Early 20s.
• Slim.
• Wearing a blue and white bandanna around his head.

Man C:

• Afro-Caribbean.
• In his 30s.
• 6ft tall.
• Muscular.

Timothy Thomas, who occupied the house, was said to have had a close circle of friends who regularly smoked cannabis.

The court heard that the two men tried had been involved in a string of shootings, starting in Birmingham and then London, and that a 9mm gun had been used in each case and a Rover car that they were arrested in was linked to the crimes.

A .45 calibre revolver was also said to have been used.

One of the other shootings took place in Notting Hill on 8 July 1995 when a 17-year-old man was shot outside a betting shop in All Saints Road. He said that the two men had pulled up in a car and shot him. The shot had caused a severe spinal injury and had left him confined to a wheelchair.

Other incidents also took place in Peckham and Stoke Newington.

A shooting took place on 1 July 1995 in Stoke Newington, close to the house of the man that was known to be acquitted. The same cartridges were found in the road.

Another shooting took place on 7 July in Peckham close to the house of the other man tried.

At the trial it was heard that the combination of the 9mm and the .45 calibre was unusual to find over such a short period of time. It was also heard that a Rover car was seen on two or possibly three occasions and that the men were arrested in a Rover car. 

The prosecution said:

It was also noted that when the car was examined, firearms residue was found inside, as well as on the black visor of a cap worn by the other man tried. They also found fingerprint evidence that linked the man that was acquitted's right palm print to an address in Birmingham where one man was shot. 

It was also noted that the London offences were committed in close proximity of known addresses used by the men.

It was also heard that there were witnesses that had identified the men, but that the evidence also suggested the possibility that others might have also been involved.