Man ‘shot cousin lifeless and tried to kill brother’ after wake row, homicide trial instructed

A man allegedly shot his cousin in the eye and his brother in the head and hand after an argument at a family gathering for a deceased relative in Hammersmith, west London, a trial has heard

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A man gunned down his cousin and attempted to murder his brother following a dispute at a wake in west London, a court has heard. Jahmel Joseph, 29, allegedly fired at Jordan Rodney in the eye, and also shot his brother Omar Joseph in the head and hand after an earlier confrontation at a family gathering for a deceased relative in Hammersmith, west London, on June 11 2025.

A doorbell camera close to the wake’s location recorded the alleged gunman arriving on a motorbike at around 11.15pm, then the sound of two shots being discharged before the motorcyclist climbed back onto the bike and sped off, an Old Bailey trial heard.

“Jordan Rodney had been shot in the eye at close range,” prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC, opening the trial on Monday, told jurors. “The defendant’s brother Omar Joseph was also shot in the head, but after hearing the gun being fired, Omar instinctively turned his head and put his hand up to protect his face,” he added.

Mr Rodney was still breathing when he was taken to hospital, but died the following day, the court heard.

Omar Joseph suffered injuries to his eye and a fracture to his hand, with surgeons later extracting a shotgun pellet from his hand.

Jurors heard that earlier in the evening, the defendant and Mr Rodney had been rowing outside the address of the wake in Claxton Grove.

“A number of people commented on the off-hand behaviour of the defendant,” Mr Aylett said, adding: “The whole occasion was very emotional and a number of people were upset.” Part of the exchange between Joseph and Mr Rodney was captured by a neighbouring doorbell camera, the court was told.

Mr Aylett presented a transcript of the footage, in which Joseph can be heard saying to Mr Rodney: “I can’t lie, bro… I’m not sleeping… You don’t understand” – to which Mr Rodney responded: “You f****** c***… How are we meant to know what’s going on in your f****** head?”

A family member then instructed the pair to lower their voices, before advising Joseph that he ought to return home.

Joseph’s Mercedes was filmed on CCTV travelling back towards the flat where he resided with his mother in Ealing at approximately 10.55pm.

Ten minutes afterwards, the same CCTV camera recorded a motorcycle departing from the vicinity of the defendant’s flat.

The prosecution claims that Joseph, who possessed a black and grey Yamaha motorcycle at the time of the shooting, was the rider filmed on CCTV.

The motorcycle, which bore no registration plate, headed towards Hammersmith and entered Claxton Grove at 11.15pm, before returning to Eaton Rise at around 11.55pm, jurors were told.

Later that evening, Joseph drove his Mercedes to a petrol station in Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire where he purchased a cup of coffee, before heading home at approximately 4.45am, when he “had a bonfire in his garden”, jurors heard.

In the morning, Mr Rodney’s mother – Joseph’s aunt – rang the defendant and accused him of murdering her son. Joseph responded: “I did not do that – I was at home sleeping,” Mr Aylett told jurors.

By the time Joseph departed his flat again at approximately 6.20am, police were searching for him.

When Joseph’s Mercedes was spotted by officers driving out of a car park in Isleworth at roughly 8.10am on 12 June, the defendant sped up and a car chase began, the court heard.

“In the course of the chase that followed, the defendant’s car struck a number of other vehicles,” Mr Aylett told jurors.

“In all, about 20 cars sustained differing levels of damage.”

The Mercedes ultimately crashed head-on with another car and came to a halt, the trial heard.

Joseph then allegedly abandoned the vehicle and, carrying a black bag, escaped on foot through neighbouring gardens until he was eventually arrested in a garden on Tolson Road in Isleworth.

Officers discovered a black bag nearby, which contained a sawn-off shotgun, Mr Aylett said.

“A DNA profile that matches that of the defendant has been recovered from the trigger of the gun,” he further told jurors.

Joseph was questioned under caution, but made no comment to any of the questions he was asked.

The defendant has previously been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, for which he has been prescribed medication, jurors were also told.

Joseph, from Eaton Rise, Ealing, west London, pleads not guilty to one charge of murder, another of attempted murder, one count of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, one count of dangerous driving, and a fifth charge of possession of a prohibited weapon – specifically, a shotgun.

The trial is ongoing.