Murder trial hears how Mitchell was shot at point-blank range

An Old Bailey jury yesterday heard how father-of-three Leroy Mitchell was shot in the head at point-blank range in an “act of petty revenge”.

Mitchell was 35 when he was killed at a silent disco in Birdhurst Road, South Croydon, in the early hours of October 2, 2021.

Despite a £20,000 reward offered for information that might lead to a conviction, arrests in connection with the shooting were not made until last summer.

Cimarron Dume-Gooden, 32, from Thornton Heath, was charged in June last year with murder and perverting the course of justice. In August, he and Alpacino Veii, 29, of Hassocks Road, Streatham, both pleaded not guilty to a charge of murdering Mitchell and perverting the course of justice.

Veii was arrested in May 2025 and charged with murder and possession of cannabis.

Kwabena Ofori, 29, of South Norwood, and Issa Souleman, 29, of New Cross, have also denied perverting the course of justice between October 1 and 14, 2021.

Yesterday, the court was told that “Alpo” Veii’s act of revenge stemmed from an incident outside Granaries nightclub, on Overton Yard, off Surrey Street, that had taken place in 2019.

Prosecutor Joel Smith KC told jurors: “The murder was, it would seem, an act of petty revenge after a fight between Mr Mitchell and the first defendant in this case at a nightclub a couple of years previously.”

In May 2019, Mitchell is said to have hit Veii in the face and another man was knocked over by a Volvo after a fight broke out between their groups. Angry that a friend had been knocked over by the car, Veii had tried to hit the vehicle with a hammer.

On being arrested, a “fuming” Veii claimed to be the victim and said he had been punched in the face, the court was told. At the Central Criminal Court yesterday, jurors heard that Mitchell had told a friend he had been in a fight and “knocked out Alpo”.

In October 2021, Veii and Dume-Gooden had spent the evening along London Road, West Croydon, and arrived at the party at a house on Birdhurst Road in a BMW at 2.10am.

At 4.51am, party-goers heard a bang that sounded like a firework. Mitchell was only found when another party-goer, fleeing the scene in fear, stumbled over his body in the car park outside.

Neighbours also heard the gunshot followed by a woman screaming and a man swearing and shouting: “Help me!”

Prosecutor Smith said Mitchell had arrived at the party at around 4.30am. He was shot in the head at close range with a 12-bore shotgun. Police arrived and Mitchell was pronounced dead at 5.26am.

In court, it was alleged that after the shooting, Veii and Dume-Gooden drove away in the BMW hatchback, which was fitted with fake registration plates.

They fled to Somerset where they “lay low for a few days” before returning to London hoping they had got away with it, according to the prosecution.

The shooting was not picked up by any CCTV, but prosecutor Smith said different strands of evidence, including from traffic cameras and mobile phones, showed Veii and Dume-Gooden were responsible.

The trial continues. It is expected to last six weeks.

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