3 men found guilty of murdering innocent mother as she celebrated 24th birthday

Sabrina Moss, a nursery schoolteacher, was sheltering from the rain when she gunned down in the street.

Three men have been found guilty of murdering an innocent nursery school as she sheltered from the rain during a night out celebrating her 24th birthday.

Sabrina Moss, who had a four-year-old son, was shot in the heart as she became caught up in a bloody drugs turf while standing with a group of about 15 others outside a fast-food restaurant in north west London.

Miss Moss, along with her friend Sabrina Gachette, were gunned down in the street by two hooded men armed with a machine gun and a shotgun.

Miss Moss died later in hospital, while Miss Gachette was hit in the back by more than 50 gunshot pellets and was lucky to survive.

Drug dealers Hassan Hussain, Yasin James and Martell Warren were convicted of Miss Moss's murder and the attempted murder of Miss Gachette after a 10-week trial at the Old Bailey.

 

Jurors were told Miss Moss, who had recently moved into a new flat in Neasden with her partner and their four-year-old son, had taken the day of Friday August 23 off work to get ready for her birthday party, meeting friends at home.

That evening they went to the Love & Liquor nightclub in Kilburn High Road, north west London, and throughout the night others joined their group.

Meanwhile, Warren, Hussain and James planned the shooting carefully, carrying out surveillance on their targets before launching their attack an hour before dawn outside the Woody Grill.

Miss Gachette, 25, said: "There was no warning. I thought someone had thrown a brick at me. Then because of the explosion I thought it was a firework.

"Sabrina was in front of me and that was when I heard her say she had been shot in her heart. That is the last thing I remember hearing her say.

"It was not until Sabrina said what she said I realised I had been shot. I remember collapsing at the entrance of the Woody Grill and dragging myself in.

"I just remember seeing her in front of me. It's strange because I had a feeling she wouldn't make it.

"We both lay on the floor in the kebab shop. Armed police arrived, paramedics arrived. From there, I was taken to hospital."

Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC said the attack took place against a "backdrop of violent tension and animosity" between the groups of young men.

Outside court, Miss Moss's parents described their daughter as “beautiful, loving [and] caring“.

“She was a larger-than-life character, the fullness of which cannot be summarised in one statement,” they said. “We miss everything about her. She was simply irreplaceable."

Hussain, 29, of Willesden; Warren, 23, from Kensal Green; and James, 20, from Wembley, were also found guilty two further counts of attempted murder – of Mahad Ahmed and Edson Da'Silva, possession of a Mac 10 machine gun with intent to endanger life, and possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life.

And they were found guilty, along with a fourth defendant – Simon Baptiste, 29, from Cricklewood – of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm between August 22 and August 25 last year.