Richard Palmer had already been convicted for Soho shooting

The moment when Richard Palmer shot a man in a Soho Street

The man who handed the gun which Richard Palmer from Ealing used to gun down a man in a Soho street in 2019 has been jailed for 26 years.

37-year-old Sheldon Pommell of Park Avenue Ruislip had originally faced trial with Palmer and two other defendants in January of last year. Palmer, of Gurnell Grove, had pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other firearms charges before last April and had been jailed at Woolwich Crown Court for
15 and a half years but Pommell had denied the attempted murder charge and a jury had been unable to return a unanimous verdict in his case. Pommell was then found guilty at a retrial on 4 November 2021.

At around 3am 25 August 2019 Palmer and Pommell parked-up in a silver Jaguar in Rupert Street, Soho. Around the same time a fight had broken out in a nearby nightclub in which a man was stabbed. The night club was closed and the attendees left with a fight resuming between two rival groups.

At this point, Pommell and Palmer both leaned into the Jaguar, and Pommell was seen to pass an object he had been carrying in his right pocket to Palmer. Palmer placed this object into a bag.

Pommell then pointed in the direction of a man in his twenties who was in the vicinity of the fight at the nightclub. He appeared to say something to Palmer to encourage him.

Palmer then quickly ran off after the victim and as he got closer, drew a Beretta pistol from the bag – resulting in screams and shouts from onlookers. Palmer caught up with the victim and fired two shots at him in the middle of a busy street, hitting him twice in the back.

Palmer ran back to the Jaguar, where Pommell was waiting nearby at they made off at around 3.20am.

The bullets did damage to the victim’s internal organs but his injuries did not prove to be life threatening. The stab victim from the nightclub was taken to hospital where his injury was also assessed as not life-threatening.

Sheldon Pommell

Pommell was seen on CCTV arriving home in the Jaguar about an hour later, but Palmer was no longer with him. Phone records showed that Palmer called Pommell at 4.12am for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, implying they had parted ways by this time.

Specialist Crime detectives attended the scene of the shooting where they located two bullet casings. They began reviewing CCTV and speaking to witnesses to piece together a picture of what had happened and bring those involved to justice.

Pommell was arrested in Ruislip on 26 August 2019. A search discovered the clothing and jewellery he was seen on CCTV to be wearing the day before. The silver Jaguar was also parked outside the address.

The following day 43-year-old Bolanle Roberts, aged of Balfour Road, Ealing was arrested after a chase and a struggle in the West Acton area. He was searched and officers found £48,132.68 in cash as well as 0.6kg of heroin and 14.6kg of crack cocaine, with a combined street value of approximately £27,000.
Officers also located a set of keys to a flat in Coleridge Drive, Ruislip, which was not his home address.

Detectives conducted a search at the address in Coleridge Drive on 28 August 2019 where they uncovered a cache of firearms and ammunition found in a rucksack hidden in an airing cupboard, as well as a significant quantity of Class A drugs in the living room - some 2.17 kg of heroin with a street value of £95,000. All five of the seized firearms were sent off for testing and subsequently found to be in working order.

Among the items recovered was the loaded firearm used in the shooting in Rupert Street - complete with ammunition and a home-made silencer. Detectives also found a loaded Colt Revolver, which the jury heard must have been transferred between Roberts and Robert Dolan of Sutton Court Road, Chiswick as Dolan’s DNA was found on the sock wrapped around it. Further testing also revealed that Dolan’s DNA was on the grip and trigger of the gun itself.

The court heard that Roberts was the ‘quartermaster’ for individuals who needed access to firearms and ammunition and it is clear that he could produce them when called upon.

Guns recovered from a property in West Ealing

Detectives found further evidence of this from analysing Pommell’s bank accounts, which showed two payments of £3,000 from Roberts to Pommell in November 2018 and February 2019 – six months before the shooting. The prosecution argued that that Roberts was holding the firearm, ammunition and silencer for transfer to others as a way to yield potential revenue.

The jury heard that Roberts had provided Palmer and Pommell with the firearm for the specific purpose of their trip into Soho. The last stop Palmer and Pommell made that night before heading to the nightclub was Roberts’ address, which is likely when the exchange took place.

With Dolan’s assistance, Palmer booked himself into a hotel in Hanwell but was arrested by police on 30 August 2019 along with Dolan.

Left to right: Richard Palmer, Bolanie Roberts and Robert Dolan

Detective Sergeant Chris Ladmore, the investigating officer from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said, “The men behind this violent incident have now received a combined 69-year jail sentence for their crimes.

“This operation started off as an attempted murder investigation, but led to us discovering a cache of loaded firearms and a wealth of ammunition that we were able to remove from the streets of London. Every bullet seized is a potential life saved.

“The victim who was shot on Rupert Street was lucky to survive – it easily could have had a different ending. The shooting is a stark reminder of the selfish disregard for human life and brazen use of firearms that people like Pommell, Palmer and Roberts hold.

“Tackling violence remains our top priority and restricting the availability of firearms is critical to protecting communities. Firearms have no place in London and this seizure has inevitably prevented further violence. We will continue to robustly target both those who carry firearms and those who supply them.”

At 12.30am on 25 August 2019, Palmer was the passenger in a silver Jaguar which parked-up on Rupert Street in Soho. He was then seen going into a nearby nightclub.At about 3am, a fight broke out in the venue which resulted in a man being stabbed. The club closed the fight involving the same people soon resumed outside in Rupert Street.

During this altercation, Palmer chased the victim and as he got closer, drew a Beretta handgun from his bag – resulting in screams and shouts from passers-by. One man could be heard telling the victim to run.

Palmer then caught up with the victim, aged in his 20s, and fired two shots at him in the middle of a busy street full of onlookers, hitting him twice in the back. Palmer then ran back to the Jaguar and the car drove off from the scene shortly before 3:20am.

The court was told that Roberts was a ‘quartermaster’ for individuals who needed access to firearms and ammunition and he could produce them when called upon.

On the afternoon of 26 August 2019, detectives established there was mobile phone contact between Palmer and Roberts and cell site and ANPR evidence that suggested Roberts went to Palmer’s address in Ruislip and drove them both to the flat on Coleridge Drive – where Roberts kept his cache of guns and ammunition - before returning Palmer home.

After becoming aware of Roberts' arrest, Palmer decided to hide himself away to evade being arrested by the police with the assistance of Dolan. On 28 and 29 August 2019, there was repeated mobile phone contact between Palmer and Dolan – Dolan also made a number of calls to hotels in the area.

The court heard that on 28 August 2019, Dolan and Palmer had a conversation where they discussed the shooting, Roberts’ arrest, that the police arrested the wrong person, the firearm and Palmer being worried he was caught on CCTV and his fingerprints were on the Jaguar. The conversation resulted in Dolan agreeing to help Palmer to ‘lie low’ in a hotel in Hanwell.

In the early hours of 29 August 2019, the pair went to a takeaway together in the Hounslow area before travelling to the hotel in Hanwell. Dolan entered the hotel, booked a room and provided his mobile number to staff. He left the hotel and went home and a short while later Palmer entered and walked towards the rooms.

Palmer stayed at the hotel and was arrested there in the early hours of 30 August 2019. Dolan was also arrested on the same day at in Teddington, where officers seized a shoebox containing £6,840 and a mobile phone, which had the same phone number provided to hotel staff the day before.

Detective Sergeant Chris Ladmore, the investigating officer from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said, “This operation started off as an attempted murder investigation, but led to us discovering a cache of loaded firearms and a wealth of ammunition that we were able to remove from the streets of London. Every bullet seized is a potential life saved.

“The victim who was shot on Rupert Street was lucky to survive – it easily could have had a different ending. The shooting is a stark reminder of the selfish disregard for human life and brazen use of firearms that people like Palmer and Roberts hold.

“Tackling violence remains our top priority and restricting the availability of firearms is critical to protecting communities. Firearms have no place in London and this seizure has inevitably prevented further violence. We will continue to robustly target both those who carry firearms and those who supply them.”

Detective Chief Inspector Sean Stewart, the senior investigating officer who was attached to the Specialist Crime Command at the time of the investigation, said, “These sentences are a testament to the excellent work undertaken by DS Ladmore and his team.

“With the support of colleagues in Met Forensics and the Specialist Crime South (West) Proactive team, they have successfully removed some extremely violent offenders from the community and prevented the future use of these lethal weapons.

“The gunman, Palmer, showed no regard for his actions in what was a crowded area. I want to thank the members of public for reporting the incident to police on the night, and for the witnesses that demonstrated real courage coming forward to testify.

“The Met is committed to reducing violent crime. However, we also rely on our communities to help us and I would urge anyone with information about someone who may be carrying a weapon to contact police immediately whether in person or anonymously.”

Anyone with information about violent crime should call police on 101 or Tweet @MetCC. To remain 100% anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

January 27, 2022