An Old Bailey jury will resume its deliberations today in the trial of a drug dealer accused of gunning down a seven-year-old girl after she allegedly witnessed him shooting her father.
Toni-Ann Byfield was shot in the back as she tried to run from the room where seconds earlier Bertram Byfield was shot, the court has heard.
The prosecution alleges they were murdered by Joel Smith, a self-confessed gunman and robber of drug dealers.
Mr Byfield, a drug dealer, had been shot once before and was vulnerable to robbery, said Richard Horwell, prosecuting.
Smith believed he had committed the perfect crime by leaving no witnesses and no clues, according to the prosecution. But the murders "shocked the nation", said Mr Horwell.
Friends and acquaintances of Smith came forward to tell police about the crime because of what he had himself told them.
Smith (33), of no fixed address, denies murdering Toni-Ann and Bertram (Tony) Byfield, 41, in September 2003, at Mr Byfield's home in Kensal Green. Smith told the jury he did not have either a grudge or motive for wanting to kill Mr Byfield.
He maintained that another man he named in court as Tafari Dacas had shot Mr Byfield.
The court heard that Dacas is serving life, with a minimum of 30 years, for an unrelated gun murder in 2004.
