'I didn't know I had killer in my car' – defendant in Rico Gordon trial

A MUSIC promoter told a jury he drove his friend from Bristol without realising he had given a lift to a killer.

Sean Youngsam said he had driven Shakah Anderson from London in order to go to after-parties following the July 2011 St Paul's Carnival.

He told Bristol Crown Court when Anderson went off looking for girls there was a shooting in the street.

He said that, when he picked him up later and they returned to London, he didn't link Anderson to the gunfire and found out the next day via social media that a man called Rico Gordon had been shot dead.

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Youngsam told the jury: "I made no connection between Shakah and the shooting."

Londoners Shakah Anderson and Rickel Adams were both convicted of the killing and jailed for life following a trial last year.

Now there is a further trial in which Youngsam, 26, and Courtney Ellis, 28, deny assisting Anderson to leave Bristol after the shooting.

Tafari Adams, 29, who is Rickel Adams' uncle, denies assisting Rickel Adams to get out of town immediately. A court order has been made banning the addresses of the accused from being published.

Youngsam related how he had driven his friend Anderson to Bristol early in July 3 in a convoy of four cars. He recalled how Anderson was "quite bubbly" as they arrived in Bristol and mingled with carnival-goers.

Youngsam and his friends went to the busy Coach House pub, he said, where Anderson seemed to be involved in an argument before the lights came on and the pub shut.

When they returned to the car, Youngsam said, Anderson was withdrawn and seemed in a huff.

Youngsam told the jury they drove off, looking for another after-party, but ended up driving back to the Coach House where he handed out music CDs he helped produce.

Youngsam said: "I was mingling, just talking to girls. I heard four shots go off and everyone just started scattering and running. It seemed like loud bangs or gunshots.

"I didn't see anyone firing a gun and I didn't see anyone with a gun. I hid behind a car and when it stopped I ran to my car."

Youngsam said he was "shook up and scared" when he drove off with Courtney Ellis, and didn't switch his headlights on because he wasn't thinking. He said: "We realised Shakah was missing."

After making several calls to track Anderson down, Anderson contacted them and they picked him up after driving around lost, the court heard.

The case continues.