A gunman has been found guilty of shooting into a Hove pub after becoming convinced someone was intending to “do” him.
Carlos Cassidy, 46, and his co-defendant Memis Kalmis, 44, who was driving him past the Poets Ale and Smokehouse when the shot was fired, were both found guilty this afternoon after a trial at Brighton Crown Court.
Both were found guilty of the single count of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
The pair were told by Judge Tim Walker they would return to court on January 22 to be sentenced.
He told Cassidy, also known as Martin Bennett: “In light of your previous conviction for armed robbery, I need a pre sentence report to assess whether you fall into dangerousness provisions and whether I should impose an extended sentence as a result.”
The incident happened at the Montgomery Street pub in Hove in April this year. The bullet scraped the leg of someone sat at the bar and lodged in the bar itself, but caused no serious injury.
Cassidy and Kalmis had been drinking there earlier, and Kalmis told the jury Cassidy had become agitated after his girlfriend Sade Ward told him another man, Stevie, had been driving around the pub.
Cassidy left the pub, followed by Kalmis and Miss Ward. Kalmis claimed Cassidy returned soon after and jumped into his car in a nearby street, brandishing the gun and demanding he drive him back to the pub.
Kalmis said Cassidy shot out of the window twice, once into the pub, despite his pleading with him to stop and holding his arm.
Earlier today, the jury returned with a question for the judge about the legal definition of intent in relation to the offence the pair were charged with.
Before retiring, the jury were shown a video found on Cassidy’s phone of him wearing a clown mask and waving a handgun about.
They were also told of his previous conviction in 2006 – after another trial – for an armed robbery after he held up a Ladbrokes with an imitation gun.
