Harlesden man accused of gunning down father-of-three in Hayes

Court heard victim was lured to park on the pretext of buying drugs

An alleged drug dealer from Harlesden shot dead a junkie for robbing one of ‘henchmen’, a court heard

Anthony Small, 31, of High Street, Harlesden, is claimed to have fired two rounds from a submachine gun into the chest of crack-cocaine user Anthony Dickson on December 23 last year, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Dickson, a 37-year-old crack addict, is said to have robbed one of Small’s dealers two weeks before he was gunned down.

Small dismissed a string of addicts who earlier identified him as a dealer while appearing as witnesses, and said he was merely a heroin and crack-cocaine addict and low-level delivery man.

Asked whether dealers had to be violent to succeed, he replied: “I wouldn’t call myself one of those people that succeed - I smoke crack and heroin.

“I was just a runner - I’m not the top man.”

Simon Denison QC, prosecuting, asked: “What happens to people who rob drug dealers of their drugs?

“I wouldn’t know,” replied Small.

The court heard that Small had been involved in hard drugs for 10 years.

Phone records showed that a mobile used by the gang to arrange transactions with users had been called 5,286 times in just three weeks last December.

Desperate for a hit, Mr Dickson, an unemployed father-of-three was allegedly later lured to a park in Hayes, Middlesex, on December 23 after calling Small to arrange a deal.

Small is claimed to have fired the fatal shots before fleeing the scene.

Asked to explain mobile phone evidence which later showed he had been in the area at the time of the killing, Small told the court: “I can’t put specific dates to events - I smoke a lot of drugs and I smoke a lot of heroin.”

Small denies murder.

The trial continues.