Teenager jailed for shooting woman dead through her front door

A teenager has been jailed for murdering a mother who was shot in the head through her front door as she tried to shield her two children from a gang feud.

Joshua Alexander, 17, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years at the Old Bailey on Monday.

She was the unintended victim of a gang feud between rivals in the neighbourhood, jurors heard.

Alexander had denied being the gunman but was found guilty in October of Ms Gordon’s murder following a trial at the Old Bailey.

A jury found him guilty of attempting to kill a 17-year-old boy and 21-year-old man who were shot in the street during the same incident.

Alexander was also convicted of affray, having a firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of a bladed article, and possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.

On Monday, a judge lifted a reporting restriction on naming Alexander, who turns 18 in February.

Judge David Aubrey KC said the background to the case was “sadly all too familiar”.

Delivering his sentencing remarks, Judge Aubrey said: “It is one of turf wars, territory, violence between rival gangs and consequential tragedy and grief.”

Addressing Alexander in the dock, Judge Aubrey told him: “You murdered an innocent woman who was behind her front door in her own home.

“Her home should have been a sanctuary, a place of safety. It was, however, where she met her death at your hands while you were in possession of a firearm.”

The judge said Alexander, who was 16 at the time of the murder, was “on a mission that night to execute members of your opposing gang”.

He told Alexander: “You have shown no remorse whatsoever. Notwithstanding that you have murdered an innocent person in her own home who was not the intended target.”

The judge said this was illustrated by rap lyrics found in his prison cell “glorifying” his crimes.

The trial heard that rap lyrics were recovered from Alexander’s cell in January referring to the shooting saying that Ms Gordon was “wigged”.

Judge Aubrey said Alexander, who was linked to the murder by DNA and phone evidence, had “devastated” Ms Gordon’s family and caused them “unimaginable grief”.

Ms Gordon’s twin sister, Louise, described her as “a force of nature” and said “everything has been destroyed, shattered and broken” since her death.

In a victim impact statement, she told the court: “I feel like I have lost my other half.