Hitmen blast couple after storming flat

Diigo

CHILDHOOD sweethearts Jordan Jackson and Leyla Djemal-Northcott were blasted at close range when shotgun assassins stormed their flat. It is thought Jordan, 20, was shot once in the neck as he leapt out of bed to intercept the masked villains.

Leyla, 21, was executed with a single blast to the head as she cowered under the bedclothes.

Twin brother Kieran Jackson - "inseparable" from Jordan according to close friends - was also cut down in the carnage during the early hours of Tuesday.

His hands were torn to shreds by a gun blast, suggesting he might have been injured making a grab for one killer's weapon.

Kieran remained in hospital yesterday under police guard.

His girlfriend, who was also at the flat and witnessed the killings, is in police protection.

Detectives are baffled by the cold-blooded double murder in Menlo Gardens, Norwood, as neither victim had links to gangs or drugs.

In a further tragic twist, a friend of the twins, Andrew Sams, was shot dead in April 2003 at a barber's in Norwood High Street.

Pals described Jordan, a deliveryman, as intelligent and generous, with a passion for restoring cars. He and Leyla had been dating for five years and were said to be "madly in love".

The Jackson twins come from a popular West Norwood family and their uncle Leroy Jackson is a prominent anti-gun crime activist.

Jonathan Lindsay, a childhood friend of the twins, said: "They loved football, they loved riding their mountain bikes - they were never associated with anything negative.

"That's what makes this such a shock. They enjoyed life, they were popular - I can't believe someone would want to kill them."

Leyla, a Greek Cypriot, was a former pupil of Virgo Fidelis Covent School in Norwood and worked in the post office in Westow Road, Crystal Palace.

Her South London family are said to be traumatised.

Detectives have not established how the gunmen bypassed the door entry system that guards the block where the couples lived.

But it is thought the assassins knocked on the door of the first-floor flat at 6.40am before forcing their way inside and firing six shots.

The two thugs, seen in Menlo Gardens earlier that night, were wearing dark clothing and ski masks or balaclavas.

One killer was a dark-skinned black man, about 6ft tall, while his accomplice was a light skinned black male and about 5ft 4in tall.

Anyone with information should call Detective Chief Inspector Peter Valentine, of Operation Trident, on 020 8247 4553, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. 

Diigo