Father of shot girl was friend of notorious gangster whose death sparked London riots
THE father of the 17-year-old girl shot dead in London was a friend of notorious gangster Mark Duggan, it was claimed last night.
Tanesha Melbourne was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Tottenham on Monday.
While detectives investigated whether the youth mentor was targeted or caught in the cross-fire of warring gangs, a family friend said that her father Conrad Kingdom was an associate of Duggan. The death of the gangster in a police shooting sparked the 2011 London riots.
Kingdom, 45, was jailed for nine years for his involvement in a shooting in 2007. He had handed a gun to a balaclava-wearing thug who shot a motor dealer.
Duggan was also arrested over the attack, although he was later released without charge.
Miss Melbourne was with a group of friends when she was shot in the street earlier this week.
Resident Salema Zaman, 54, told how a hail of bullets came through her living room window as she was watching television with her four children and one-monthold granddaughter. She rushed outside to a crowd around the fatally injured teenager, who died just over an hour later in the arms of her mother, Sharon.
Mrs Zaman said: ‘I’m so shaken up and my children are so scared as well. We just heard the noise and we saw a little bit of flash light.
‘We then heard all the screaming and we knew straight away someone was shot.
‘We came out and we saw loads of people come and the police came and someone said “there’s a hole in your window”. You can imagine how shocked we were, we are still in shock.’
Armed police were reportedly the first to arrive on the scene, with the first ambulance following up to 30 minutes later, according to witnesses.
Medical staff fought to keep Miss Melbourne alive, performing surgery on her under a tent on the street.
Another neighbour whose house was also hit by a bullet said the group of teenagers were in hysterics as he ran out to help.
Phil Yassein, 33, said it took about 30 minutes before paramedfind ics realised Miss Melbourne had been shot.
He added: ‘It was very quick, all I heard was screeching and it just shot off. Three loud bangs happened then I went outside to see what’s going on.
‘They were all frantic, just in hysterics and then they made her lift up her top to see if she had been shot but there was no blood. She was sort of gasping for air.
‘It needs to stop, there’s far too many kids dying these days, there’s far too many gun crimes, it’s just not on.’
The murder came on a night of bloodshed in which a 16-year-old was shot dead and a boy aged 15 stabbed in an unrelated attack.
Miss Melbourne’s family and friends yesterday continued to lay flowers at the scene, where ballistics experts were retrieving bullet casings lodged in houses nearby.
Her godmother Lisa Robinson, who cried as she lay flowers at the crime scene, said she had known the aspiring beautician all her life. ‘I watched her grow with my kids, my kids were very close to the family. Tanesha could put a smile on your face and she had a big heart.
‘She was caring, active and full of life and what’s happened here is a tragedy to say the least.
‘She is a good girl, bubbly, just a happy, beautiful young lady. She cared about her community, her family and her friends.
‘She was an innocent girl, wellloved, well-respected.’
‘There’s far too many kids dying’