Petty Revenge Ends in Deadly South Croydon Shooting
A brutal shooting at point-blank range has left father-of-three Leroy Mitchell dead, with court hearing the murder was a twisted act of petty revenge.
Old Grudge Turns Fatal
The Old Bailey was told yesterday how Leroy Mitchell was gunned down in South Croydon, after a long-standing feud.
Cimarron Dume-Gooden, 32, from Thornton Heath, and Alpacino Veii, 29, from Streatham, both deny murdering Mitchell and covering up the crime.
Prosecutor Joel Smith KC revealed the shooting came after a violent clash in 2019 outside Granaries nightclub over a fight between Mitchell and Veii.
“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,” Smith told the jury.
Nightclub Bash Escalates Into Murder
- 2019: Mitchell hit Veii in the face, sparking chaos. During the fight, a friend of Veii’s was knocked over by a Volvo.
- Veii, furious, attempted to smash the car with a hammer.
- Fast forward to October 2021: Veii and Dume-Gooden arrive at a party on Birdhurst Road around 2am in a BMW with fake plates.
- Just before 5am, partygoers hear a loud bang – later identified as a shotgun blast.
- Mitchell, shot in the head with a 12-bore shotgun, was found dead in the car park.
Neighbours recalled a woman screaming and a man shouting “Help me!” after the gunshot.
Cover-Up Attempts and Flight
After the shooting, Veii and Dume-Gooden allegedly fled the scene in the BMW. Within days, the car, their clothes, and sim cards were burned to destroy evidence.
The pair then escaped to Somerset to “lay low” before returning to London, believing they had gotten away with murder.
Though no CCTV captured the shooting itself, police pieced together traffic camera footage and mobile phone data linking Veii and Dume-Gooden to the crime.
The trial is ongoing and expected to last six weeks.
Murder victim: Leroy Mitchell
