Why were they free to gun down innocent five-year-old? Gangsters guilty of drive-by shooting could have been behind bars on the night of the attack



Youngster was caught in crossfire of a 'tit-for-tat' gang feud



Victim Thusha Kamaleswaran had dreamed of becoming a dancer

Instead she will have to wear a brace and leg splints permanently

Mother's agony as shooting of five-year-old is shown to court



Three members of a notorious street gang jailed for the shooting of a five-year-old-girl could have been behind bars on the night of the attack, it has emerged.

Thusha Kamaleswaran was left paralysed by a bullet fired by 21-year-old Nathaniel Grant as she danced in a grocery store aisle in front of her parents.

Grant and his accomplices Anthony McCalla, 20, and Kazeem Kolawole, 19, last night faced long jail sentences after a jury at the Old Bailey unanimously convicted them of causing grievous bodily harm.

Scroll down for video (Warning: Distressing footage)



Harrowing: CCTV from inside Stockwell Food and Wine shows Thush lying on the floor having been shot in the chest

Guilty: Nathaniel Grant, 21 Guilty: Kazeem Kolawole, 19 Guilty: Anthony McCalla, 20

But in an appalling indictment of Britain’s soft justice it can now be revealed that the three men could - and perhaps should - already have been locked up.



■ Gunman Grant, known as ‘Killa Buzz’, was cleared of an almost identical gangland murder and released from prison just weeks earlier;



■ Sidekick McCalla was on bail over a vicious bus brawl and probation staff considered recalling him to prison hours before Thusha was shot;



■ Enforcer Kolawole had recently been spared prison for beating a schoolgirl and was wearing an electronic tag while on bail for carrying a knife.

The three thugs were key members of the Gas Gang, fast emerging as one of London’s most dangerous criminal outfits.

Police seemed powerless to intervene in a spiral of up to 20 tit-for-tat attacks in the preceding weeks.

The gang was responsible for four out of five violent crimes in the area around Brixton that they claimed as their own.

When little Thusha was gunned down while visiting her uncle’s grocery shop on March 29 last year her plight shocked the nation.



But for members of the Gas Gang, short for Guns and Shanks (knives) it was business as usual.



CCTV footage of the gunmen showing the moment one of the men lifts his hand and fires into the store

Supporters gathered outside the shop to jeer the emergency services. As paramedics fought to save her, one even asked a policeman why they were bothering as the victim was 'just a Paki'.



Moments after dancing in the aisle of her uncle’s shop, young Thusha was left lying sprawled on the shop’s floor.

The five-year-old was left helpless and dying on the floor of the grocery shop after a .22 round pierced her chest.

Moments earlier she could be seen in her bright red coat and pink skirt playing cheerfully with her 12-year-old brother and three-year-old sister. The whole incident lasted just 50 seconds.

She was ready to go home after a long day in which her hard-working parents drove her across London to wish her uncle a happy birthday. Security cameras installed because of the constant threat of armed robbery captured the moment that would change her life for ever.

Senior barristers said the graphic CCTV footage of the moment she was shot contained some of the most heart-breaking evidence ever seen in a British courtroom.

Thusha's mother Sharmila Kamaleswaran broke down in tears and was comforted by her husband as she saw it for the first time at the start of the Old Bailey trial.

But she bravely told police the footage should be released to reveal the full horror of the crime.

Roshan Selvakumar, 35, who lived upstairs and was buying groceries, was hit in the face by the second shot, but miraculously escaped serious injury - though he still has part of the bullet lodged in his skull.

Split second before: An unsuspecting Thusha is seen dancing through the aisles of her uncle's Stockwell shop Target: The intended victim of the hit and another youth come into the store (left). Thusha and her family can be seen at the front of the picture on the right

Panic: As the gunman standing outside the shop starts to fire, Thusha's family run for cover Gunned down: Thusha's family move out of the way to reveal the little girl lying on the floor (left). Her uncle Mahadavan Vikneswaran is seen rushing to help her (right) as the shooting stops Pitiful: He lifts her limp form from the floor and carries her to safety. Thusha's heart stopped twice on the way to hospital and paramedics feared she would die

The cameras show how an ordinary evening was transformed into a scene of horror as Thusha walks to the front of the shop to investigate some noises. A melee of adults can be seen as drug dealer Roshaun Bryan and a friend push past the family to escape the three gunmen outside as people shout ‘they’re coming’.

The first shot hits shopper Roshan Selvakumar in the face, leaving a fragment of bullet in his neck for life, as he tries to close the door of the shop.

Seven seconds later, the second shot hits Thusha. The camera shows how she is left behind as everyone else runs for cover.

Police ballistics experts who recreated the scene believe she was standing directly in front of the gunman when the shot was fired.

Separate CCTV footage from a neighbouring store showed the gunman Nathaniel Grant stopped on his bicycle, steadying himself and calmly firing both shots. Police believe he tried to fire at least twice more, but the gun jammed or he ran out of bullets.

Innocent victim: Thusha will be paralysed for life

There is also CCTV footage of the gang gathering before the attack which shows another member Anthony McCalla making a shooting gesture at his girlfriend.

The single bullet that hit Thusha means she faces a lifetime of pain and round-the-clock care as her family battles to adapt to her terrible injuries.

She effectively died twice after the shooting as her heart stopped beating and only survived thanks to the intervention of surgeons at the scene. But her spine was shattered, paralysing her from the chest down and leaving her facing further dangerous corrective surgery.

The attackers were members of the infamous Brixton-based GAS gang - short for Guns And Shanks - and were hunting youths from the rival ABM - or All 'Bout Money - gang, based in neighbouring Stockwell.

Grant and Kolawole claimed they had been wrongly identified and McCalla insisted he thought he was only taking part in a cannabis robbery.

But an Old Bailey jury convicted them of wounding their two victims with intent and the attempted murder of rival gang member Roshaun Bryan.

All verdicts were unanimous. The trio stood with their hands in their pockets, showing no emotion as the verdicts were announced.

The attack was an appalling echo of the murder of innocent sixth form student Ryan Bravo at Costcutters in Walworth – less than two miles from Stockwell – in August 2008.

Five men arrived on mopeds and shot at two members of the rival Peckham Young Guns gang as they pushed past customers into the shop to escape. They missed their targets but 18-year-old Ryan, who had only walked to the store to save 20p on a pint of milk, was fatally wounded in the back.

That shooting was driven by revenge after McCalla’s older brother Jayden – a friend of Grant – was shot in the kneecaps.

Grant went on trial at the Old Bailey. But he was allowed to walk free on a technicality in December 2010. Detectives said he believed he was ‘untouchable’ after the decision.

Last night, Ryan’s mother Elfrida Kiffin said Thusha would still be walking today if justice had not failed her family.



CCTV caught Nathaniel Grant, Kazeem Kolawole and Anthony McCalla on bikes wearing white face masks Getaway: Nathaniel Grant, Kazeem Kolawole and Anthony McCalla make off on two wheels

The grieving auxiliary nurse said: ‘How come Grant was allowed to go free and shoot someone else? I am so angry that British justice has let another family down.’

The Gas Gang was – and still is – locked in a bloody feud with several rivals, including the All ‘Bout Money, or ABM Gang. When Grant set out on the raiding party into ABM territory last year, his target was 20-year-old crack dealer Roshaun Bryan.

Bryan was jailed for two years and four months last week after admitting selling drugs to undercover police.

Police believe Grant rented the .22 silver semi-automatic pistol for as little as £250 to carry out the hit. He fired it into a tree to test it.

CCTV camera operators, directed by a Met detective, watched as the trio gathered with other gang members on bikes. In a chilling taste of what was to come, McCalla cycled past his girlfriend and pretended to shoot her.

He was on bail over a fight on a bus in Wandsworth in September 2010 and on licence after being released early from a one-year jail term for stealing a watch. Kolawole could have been behind bars but was spared prison just months earlier after he pleaded guilty to brutally beating a schoolgirl on a bus in a row over a mobile phone in May 2010.

Incredibly, he was wearing the electronic ankle tag that gave him freedom when he joined the shooting and raced home to meet his 9.30pm curfew.

All three gunmen were caught on CCTV heading to Stockwell Food and Wine wearing white masks picked up from McCalla’s grandmother’s house.

Within an hour of the shooting Grant and McCalla were trying to seal a drug deal by selling skunk cannabis worth £120. All three wiped their phones, threw away their clothes and threatened others to keep them quiet.

The only forensic evidence was a smear of gunshot residue found in the pocket of a pair of jeans found at McCalla’s home. It was the same as the residue found on Thusha’s blood-stained cardigan that was shown to the jury.

Images released by the Metropolitan Police show the injuries that Thusha suffered to her chest

The red cardigan Thusha Kamaleswaran was wearing when she was shot

Even as Grant, McCalla and Kolawole appeared at the Old Bailey charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, the violence continued in South London.

During the trial, innocent sixth form student Kwame Ofosu-Asare, 17, was stabbed to death after straying on to Gas Gang territory.

The trial of Thusha’s attackers was the fifth case involving suspected Gas Gang members to be heard at the Old Bailey in the last six months. Even the courthouse was not safe. The judge threatened to close the public gallery after jurors complained about feeling threatened by friends of the defendants.

Thusha's mother, Sharmila, and her father, Jeyakumar Ghanasekaram, sat quietly watching from the well of court as the trio were convicted.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, her mother said she was still often reduced to tears when she thinks about her daughter's fate and future.



'It's hard for all at home to see an innocent child hopping around like a rabbit, now paralysed,' said prosecutor Michelle Nelson, reading a statement from Mrs Kamaleswaran on behalf of the family.



'She was a playful child, always happy and smiling and was a good student at school.'

Grant hung his head in the dock while his co-defendants showed no emotion as the statement was read out.

Ms Nelson added: 'What she says is that the impact of this incident remains unbearable to the family.



'She cannot begin to explain the shock felt at the time of the shooting, that her children all were there in the shop, playing and dancing and within seconds of that Thusha was lying of the floor crying and saying she couldn't feel her legs.



'She describes being told by the paramedics that Thusha had suffered heart failure and that their concern immediately was that they didn't know whether she would survive.

'They were told subsequently that she died twice on the way to the hospital. It the days after the shooting, the family lived at the hospital, with inevitable consequences - unable to sleep properly or eat.



'Her mother says she could hardly think. Seeing her lying on a hospital bed took their hearts away. She says she cannot think of a worse time in my life and describes how the family have had to pick up the pieces.'

Mrs Kamaleswaran said her daughter's dreams of becoming a singer and dancer had been shattered.

Reconstruction: This graphic put together by the police shows where everybody was placed in the shop at the point Thusha was shot. The little girl is the small pink figure towards the left of the picture. The gunman is the blue figure on the bike outside the door Sight line: A second graphic shows the gunman's view into the shop. Thusha is the small figure in pink behind the counter

Devastated: Thusha (right) poses with her mother Sharmila Kamaleswaran and other members of her family

Mrs Kamaleswaran wept in court as disturbing footage of the shooting was played to jurors for the first time.

In the clip, lasting less than a minute, Bryan can be seen running into the store with Christopher Munsaka. They take cover and throw bottles through the front door.

Mr Selvakumar can be seen trying to close the door, after which he collapses into a display unit and retreats to the back of the store, bleeding heavily.



Thusha is seen dancing in the aisle of the store, owned by her uncle, wearing a pink dress and red cardigan, before moving towards the front door.

As a large number of people retreat she is then seen lying on the floor on her back.



The intended targets of the shooting flee the scene as she is carried back to the safety of the store room.



Describing the chaotic scene inside the store, Thusha's uncle Mahadavan Vikneswaran added: 'I could hear Sassi shouting, 'No, no, no' over and over again.

'I heard other shouting as well. I pushed my sister out of the way and ran through the stockroom.

'I saw two black boys at the fridge where the alcoholic drinks are stored and they kept grabbing bottles and throwing them towards the door.



'I could hear them shouting but I couldn't see what they were shouting at.'

As Mr Ghanasekaram made a phone call to the police, Mr Vikneswaran saw Thusha had made her way into the shop and was standing at his side.



'She probably came out of the stock room to see what was happening,' he said.



'I noticed that Thusha was crying and I saw her drop to the floor next to me. I quickly grabbed her, picked her up and ran her to the back room.'

The intended targets of the hit retreated further into the store and cowered behind a fridge as the critically injured little girl was carried to safety back in the stock room.

A cardboard box was ripped up to provide a makeshift stretcher and water was sprinkled onto her face to try and revive her.



Investigation: Police recovered CCTV of Kolawole arriving home after the shooting wearing the same grey hoodie Meticulous: Police recovered 700 hours of CCTV. Kolawole is sweating profusely in these images

When paramedics arrived she was in cardiac arrest, but she was revived before being rushed to nearby Kings College Hospital.

She deteriorated again on her way to hospital and was given further treatment.



'Gang rivalry that often involves needless posturing but on occasion leads to needless but very serious violence, said prosecutor Edward Brown QC.



POLICE RAISE FUNDS FOR THUSHA

Thusha Kamaleswaran still has to spend much of her time in hospital a year on from the shooting that dramatically changed her life. She is allowed home at weekends and her parents are organising a move to a suitably-equipped home. The little girl, now six, is expected to be permanently wheelchair-bound after a bullet hit the seventh vertebra of her spine.

Officers and police staff were so moved by Thusha's plight that they made their own plans to raise money to help her parents fund her medical care.

Detective Inspector Jim Redmond, Detective Constable Richard Williamson and Detective Constable John Codd, are among more than 20 officers and members of police staff who will undertake the Three Peaks Challenge from September 22 to 23.

This involves attempting to climb the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales - Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis and Mount Snowdon - in 24 hours.

The participants are aiming to raise as much as they can for specialist equipment for Thusha to use in her new home.

They have set up a bank account for donations with HSBC. The account name is The Thusha Appeal, the account number is 12239108 and the sort code is 40-07-30.

'The immediate legacy of that gang violence lies in Thusha's permanent disability and the bullet that remains in Mr Selvakumar's neck.'

Thomas Watson, who was jogging home past the shop at the time, saw three masked cyclists cross his path.

He then heard two shots and turned around to see Roshaun Bryan, the intended victim, in the doorway clutching his abdomen.

'But there was no visible sign he had been injured,' he said. 'I remember as I went past I heard the words: 'I hope that's a gun'.



'He seemed almost excited at the prospect that was what had happened.'

ve evidence on two separate occasions during the trial, but said he could not remember the details of the attack because he 'smoked too much weed'.

He has admitting supplying heroin and cocaine to undercover police outside the shop where the shooting took place and is currently awaiting sentence. But he denied he had been engaged in a 'turf war' with rival dealers.

At one point, when asked about gang activity in south London, he claimed: 'This ain't America. There's no gangs that I know of.'

Grant was linked to the shooting after gunshot residue was found on his jeans, while Kolawole was caught on CCTV throwing the grey hoodie he wore into a wheelie bin.



Messages between Grant his girlfriend, sent using the chat feature on their BlackBerry mobile phones, also showed him telling her his enemies will 'get fame soon on the South London Press.'



The messages show the pair insulting 'pagans' - or rival gang members.

Kolawole, whose barrister suggested he was trying to 'move in' on Grant's girlfriend, also sent similar messages, with one warning: 'I can feel it. These pagans are up for it.'



McCalla, a heavy cannabis user, admitted he had been present at the shooting, but claimed he had only gone to help rob a drug dealer of a kilo of skunk.

'I hadn't seen what had happened in the shop,' he said. 'I felt remorseful. I didn't see anyone actually get hit.'

An aspiring construction worker, McCalla had begun training as a chef after he could not get accepted on any building courses. He had earlier dropped out of school after being diagnosed with ADHD.



He admitted he had been a member of the OC - or Organised Crime - gang, whose younger members are believed to have formed the GAS gang in around 2007, but claimed he had decided to turn his back on gang life after serving a six-month prison sentence for theft.

McCalla insisted Grant and Kolawole had taken no part in the shooting, but refused to name those responsible.

He said: 'If I was to name them and they was to get arrested I feel my family's life would be in danger and if not them then my life would be in danger.'



Neither Grant nor Kolawole gave evidence during the six-week trial.



The trio were all found guilty of the attempted murder of Bryan and wounding Thusha and Mr Selvakumar with intent, as well as possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.



Store terror: Thusha, who was in a medically induced coma for a month, was shot in her uncle's Food and Wine store in Stockwell, south London, on March 29 last year

Forensics at Stockwell Food and Wine, in Stockwell Road, Stockwell, where Thusha was hit last March

Five-year-old Thusha Kamaleswaran who was shot in the chest in south London in March last year when three youths on bicycles chased two youngsters into a shop and opened fire

Grant, of Camberwell; Kolawole, of Kennington; and McCalla, of Streatham, all south London; denied all the charges against them.



Thusha's mother, Sharmila wept tears from her eyes as the court was told her daughter's dreams of becoming a dancer and musician were shattered when she was shot.

She has now been consigned to a wheelchair for life and will now need round-the-clock assistance.



Although she could be discharged from Stoke Mandeville Hospital as soon as next week, she will have to wear a brace and leg splints permanently.



Thusha is also likely to have to undergo a series of risky operations to prevent curvature of the spine, said her consultant, Dr Alison Graham, in a statement read to the court.

Judge Martin Stephens QC said he would sentence Grant, Kolawole and McCalla on April 19.

He told the jury he was considering whether to give them a life sentence or an indeterminate sentence.



Lawyers for all three defendants , who were also convicted of attempted murder of their intended victim Roshaun Bryan, asked for pre-sentence reports to be prepared by probation officers to look into the issue of dangerousness.

Judge Stephens said: 'If the court considers there is a danger that the particular defendant will commit very serious offences in the future the court has to consider passing an indeterminate sentence or a life sentence.

The judge told the jury that they could be excused from jury service for the next ten years because of the 'maximum gravity' of the case.



He also said they would be offered help if they wanted to discuss the effect of hearing the case.



Grant has a previous conviction for robbery in 2007 for which he was given a six month supervision order.



He also has a conviction for possession of an offensive weapon in 2008, relating to a rock in a sock.



After the verdicts, junior prosecutor Michelle Nelson told the court that Thusha is expected to be discharged from hospital next week.



'It will be the first time the family will all be together since the incident,' she said.

Allison Graham, Thusha's doctor from Stoke Mandeville Hospital, said in a statement: 'I do not expect now that her condition will improve.'