Three guilty of conspiracy to murder following Woodford Green shooting in 2019

Three men who shot a rival in his own home in east London have been convicted following a meticulous investigation that saw a combination of forensic and data-based evidence prove their guilt.

Daniel Kelly, along with brothers Stewart and Louis Ahearne, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder at the conclusion of a trial at the Old Bailey on Monday, 24 March.

The jury heard evidence that Kelly and the Ahearnes carried out the shooting in Woodford Green on 11 July 2019 after weeks of careful planning, including surveillance of their intended target after putting a tracking device on the car he used so they could follow his movements.

On the night of the shooting, the three travelled from their homes in southeast London to Woodford Green using a car that had been hired two days earlier by Stewart Ahearne.

While he waited in the car which was parked in Worcester Avenue, Kelly and Louis Ahearne snuck into a garden of a house on the street which overlooked the back garden of their target’s house in Malvern Drive. At around 23:09hrs, six shots were fired through the back doors and windows of the house in Malvern Drive, at least one of which struck their target – a man who was aged 45 at the time - who was standing in the kitchen.

Kelly and Ahearne fled back to the waiting car which drove away, leaving their victim fighting for his life.

Police and the London Ambulance Service attended. The victim was taken to hospital for emergency surgery that while saving his life would leave him permanently paralysed. Detectives secured the scene and began to piece together what had happened.

Over the course of the coming weeks, several vital evidential breakthroughs took place.

Following a forensic analysis of the victim’s house and garden area, DNA profiles were recovered from a fence area of the adjoining property in Worcester Avenue where the two suspects had fired the shots from. These profiles provided matches for both Kelly and Louis Ahearne.

Bullet casings found in the garden, and bullets found inside the address that had missed their target enabled detectives to establish the firearm used was a Glock SLP handgun. A search of Kelly’s address carried out in late August 2019 recovered a laser sight that was compatible with this weapon.

CCTV analysis of the area surrounding Malvern Drive picked up the car driven by Stewart Ahearne – this provided a vehicle registration number which detectives were able to use to confirm this was a hire car. After tracking down the venue it was hired from, the company were able to confirm Stewart Ahearne’s details as the vehicle’s hirer.

Using various techniques including ANPR and CCTV cameras, detectives pieced together the movements of the car after it was hired on 9 July 2019 in Dartford. Detectives subsequently established that the car had been used to commit a burglary at an address in Sevenoaks, Kent that same evening.

It was confirmed the car had travelled from southeast London where the three suspects were based, up to the Woodford Green area on both the 10 and 11 July prior to the trip to carry out the shooting.

On the 10 July, the defendants undertook a journey tracking a car known to be used by the victim. The court heard how the defendants had fitted a tracking device to the victim’s vehicle. Using an iPad, which was subsequently thrown into the River Thames but later recovered by officers, to track the car’s movements, the suspects now knew when and where their target would be.

Detectives also used phone data from devices attributed to Kelly and the Ahearnes to help track their movement both before and after the shooting. Marrying this up with camera footage from ANPR and CCTV, they could map the hire car following the victim’s car prior to the shooting.

Following the shooting, Stewart Ahearne returned the car to the hire company on 12 July. Even though it was subsequently re-hired, by 17 July officers had established it had been used by the suspects and traced it to Birmingham Airport. The car was forensically analysed and Kelly’s fingerprints were found on two places in the vehicle.

By October 2019, detectives were in a position to start making arrests. Between 30 October 2019 and 23 January 2020, all three suspects were arrested. All denied their involvement but the evidence that detectives had diligently compiled meant the three were charged.

Detectives continued to pursue all lines of enquiry and by piecing together the movements of Kelly and the Ahearnes an iPad used by Kelly to track the movements of the victim was recovered from the River Thames in 2024.

During the intervening period, the Met investigation team worked as part of a joint investigation with law enforcement teams from Switzerland. A burglary of the Museum of Far Eastern Arts had occurred in Geneva a month prior to this shooting with items of historical value stolen.

The court heard how elements of that offending echoed this shooting, including the use of a Renault Captur hire vehicle.

A Ming dynasty vase stolen in the burglary was recovered by the investigation team in London in October 2020.

Stewart and Louis Ahearne were extradited to Switzerland, they stood trial and were convicted in January 2024. Both were subsequently returned to the United Kingdom on extradition to be tried for this incident.

Detective Superintendent Matt Webb who led the investigation said:

“The court heard how the defendants, hardened organised criminals, acted together in a well-planned and orchestrated manner to shoot their victim. It is only for the intervention of police first responder and medical professionals that the victim wasn’t killed. This attack may look like the plot to a Hollywood blockbuster but the reality is something quite different. This was horrific criminality. The court heard how this was a clear and defined attempt to take a man’s life with those responsible making significant efforts to ensure this was successful.

“This conviction follows a number of years of investigation, I would like to thank our criminal justice partners and the investigation team for their diligence and tenacity in the attempt to bring those responsible to justice. The message here to those engaging in serious and organised crime is one I want to make very clear – the Metropolitan Police will not tolerate serious violence and the use of firearms in our communities; we will leave no stone unturned in bringing you to justice.

“Daniel Kelly, Louis and Stewart Ahearne will now undoubtedly face significant custodial sentences and I hope this time at His Majesty’s pleasure provides them the opportunity to reflect on their criminality and the impact it has on society.”

= The three defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to murder and were remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at the Old Bailey on Friday, 25 April:

Daniel Kelly – 46 (26.10.78) of no fixed address;
Stewart Ahearne – 46 (21.08.78) of no fixed address;
Louis Ahearne – 36 (02.12.88) of no fixed address.