A man involved in a battle between two of London’s most notorious gangs has been found guilty of a shooting outside a nightclub.

Sachmo Moses Kieron Quain, 20, of Foxbourne Rd, Balham, was found guilty of firing a gun in the fight outside the former Love2Love Club on Cheam Rd, Sutton.

Croydon Crown Court heard Quain shot the gun when the gangs, Mitcham-based gang Terror Zone (TZ) and Wandsworth based Stick Up Kids (SUK), began fighting with belts as weapons at 1.40am on September, 8.

The jury unanimously agreed that Quain, who had denied the charge, was guilty of possessing a firearm with intent to enganger life under section 16 of the Firearms Act, 1968.

During the trial the court also heard Quain accidentally shot himself in the stomach six weeks previously.

Jurors were told Quain and four friends were walking towards Love2Love when a fight broke out, although Quain was not accused of joining in.

The court heard Quain crossed the road to the outside of the club where their enemies were and a brawl began.

In summing up Judge Riddell said security staff had heard a gun go off and a pinging noise as it hit a railing. He said the gun was fired at least twice.

He said: “The CCTV shows the defendant raising his arm at about shoulder height holding something and pointing towards the other side of the road and then the defendant running back towards the camera and doing the same thing again.

“The prosecution say the defendant was moving into a better firing position.

“The defendant in his prepared statement denies it.

“He said he had been going to the club, but thought better of it when the trouble started and said he had stayed on the other side of the road.”

Earlier in the trial, James Dawes, prosecuting, said Quain was seen throwing the gun into bushes, before returning about 40 seconds later to pick it up.

Police were said to have chased after him and brought him to the ground.

Quain claimed not to have a firearm when later interviewed by police.

Jurors were told Quain was taken to hospital weeks before with gun shot wounds, after trying to hide a weapon under his clothes outside Tooting Bec station in the early hours of July 23, 2008.

Mr Dawes said: “Quain had a shotgun with him and was in a car.

“The gun was in his jacket and he had a number of layers of clothing, although it was a warm time of year.

“Unfortunately for him he let the gun off in his jacket.

“Because he is quite podgy it went into the fat around his stomach and did not damage any vital organs, but it spread the shot into his stomach where it was lodged.”

In summing up, Judge Riddell said the firing noise had woken up several witnesses and they heard a voice shout “I’ve shot myself”.

Judge Riddell said when interviewed by police Quain said a tall black man, who he did not recognise, had jumped out of a bush and shot him from up to four foot away as he walked across Tooting Common in the dark.

He said the man had then fled and he had flagged down a passing car and persuaded the driver to take him to hospital.

However, Mr Dawes said friends had taken Quain to St Georges Hospital in Tooting and left him at the entrance, where CCTV footage showed he was helped in by an ambulance man.

He had an operation to remove the pellets.

Judge Riddell said there were “uncertainties” about how close the gun had been to Quain’s body, but an expert witness had said the tearing on his clothes was consistent with a firearm being shot within a one-foot range.

Quain was found guilty possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life under section 16 for the July incident. He will be sentenced in August.

The TZ gang and SUK are fierce rivals.

In August 2008, TZ member Ashley Rookwood, 18, was found guilty of murdering SUK rival teenager Eugene Attram, from Thornton Heath, with a knife during a horrific street fight in Mitcham in 2006.

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