A paranoid gunman shot into a crowded pub in an attempt to “do” a group of men he was convinced intended to hurt him, his co-defendant told a jury today.
Memis Kalmis, 44, said Carlos Cassidy had become agitated after his girlfriend Sade Ward told him she had seen a man called Stevie drive around the Poets Ale and Smokehouse, where they were drinking, three times.
Kalmis said Cassidy, 46, left the pub minutes afterwards, and Miss Ward begged him to stay to stop him doing something stupid.
But after Cassidy jumped into Kalmis’s car, a white Audi, Cassidy brandished a gun while directing him past the pub in Montgomery Street, Hove, shooting out of the window twice.
Both Cassidy, of no fixed abode, and Kalmis, of Stonery Road, Portslade, deny possessing an imitation firearm with intent.
Today, the jury was told Cassidy, who was previously known as Martin Bennett, was convicted in 2006 for an armed robbery after he held up a Ladbrokes with an imitation gun.
He pleaded not guilty, but was convicted of robbery and possessing an imitation firearm.
The jury was also told Cassidy would not be giving evidence at his current trial.
Giving evidence at their trial at Brighton Crown Court this morning, Kalmis said he had agreed to meet Cassidy on 4 April this year so Cassidy could repay a £700 debt.
But Cassidy didn’t have the money on him, and kept him at the pub with the promise his cousin would soon be arriving with the cash.
Stevie had come over to the three of them, and Kalmis had noticed Cassidy didn’t speak to him and thought something must be wrong.
But it was only when Miss Ward came back into the pub from smoking a cigarette outside and told him she’d seen Stevie driving around the pub that he became agitated.
Kalmis said: “He changed. He was getting aggressive and his behaviour changed and he started getting paranoid.
“He said they’re here to do me. He was referring to Stevie and the people who just came in the pub – there were three of them.”
When Cassidy left the pub minutes later, Kalmis followed him, but stayed outside after Miss Ward asked him to.
Miss Ward got into Kalmis’s Audi, and they drove a short distance, where they met Cassidy who was driving Miss Ward’s Citroen.
Miss Ward then got into the Citroen, but before Kalmis could drive away, Cassidy insisted on getting into his Audi, he told the jury.
He said he noticed he had changed clothes and was now wearing an orange jacket, gloves and a beanie hat.
Kalmis said: “He was shouting open the fucking door, open the fucking door. I didn’t know what was going on.
“As soon as he jumped in the car I asked what’s going on and he said ‘Drive, drive to the fucking pub.’
“He said ‘They’re here to do me, I’m going to do them.’
“He aimed out of the window and just shot. He didn’t aim at nothing, he just shot.
“I was just terrified and I was scared. I didn’t know what to do, how to react.”
The court was previously told the bullet which entered the pub scraped the leg of someone sitting at the bar, but caused no more serious injuries.
After the two shots were fired, Kalmis said he was told to drive away, but then stop for a moment.
Kalmis said: “I thought he was going to do something to me because I was the only witness.”
The trial continues.
