Three men have been jailed for plotting to kill a former cagefighter convicted of Britain’s largest cash robbery.
Paul Allen, then 41, was paralysed for life after shots were fired at his large detached rented home in Woodford Green, north-east London, in 2019.
A jury at the Old Bailey was told the intention was to kill him, and that the attackers “very nearly succeeded”, before convicting brothers Louis Ahearne, 36, and Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, of plotting to murder Allen with others unknown.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC sentenced Kelly, who did not appear at court, to 36 years in prison with an extended licence period of five years while she jailed Louis Ahearne for 33 years and Stewart Ahearne for 30 years.
The judge said on Friday: “I have no doubt that this agreement to murder Paul Allen involved other people apart from the three of you and that you three were motivated by a promise of financial gain.
“The culpability of each one of you is very high.
“The harm caused to the victim was very serious – indeed short of killing him it could hardly be more serious. He is currently paralysed and relies on others for every single need.”
