Swedish gang planned murder of reality star's brother for six months, UK court told

Accused donned a variety of diguises to undertake reconnaissance visits before shooting the victim

Flamur Beqiri, who was shot dead at his London home in front of his wife and child on Christmas Eve 2019. Shutterstock

A gunman wearing a Latex mask disguised himself as a litter picker to carry out reconnaissance before shooting dead a reality-TV star's brother in front of his family, an English court has heard.

Flamur Beqiri, 36, whose sister Misse Beqiri appeared in Real Housewives Of Cheshire, was murdered outside his home in Battersea, south-west London, about 9pm on Christmas Eve 2019.

The father of two had been hand in hand with his wife, Debora Krasniqi, and their son, 2, moments before Anis Hemissi, 24, allegedly struck from behind, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood, QC, said Mr Hemissi repeatedly fired a semi-automatic handgun at Beqiri with the shots following him as "he went from vertical to horizontal" and "hit the ground".

"The intention was clearly very obvious," Mr Heywood said.

"First, it was to kill. Second, it was to do so in a way calculated to cause maximum terror and shock. That much is clear from the way it was done, the time it was done and the place it was done."

The jury has heard a team of killers from Sweden planned the murder of Beqiri, a Swedish-Albanian national, for about six months, hiring locals to clean up once they had returned home.

Mr Heywood said the steps that led to the killing "involved planning, discretion, thought and effort, and it was collaborative".

Mr Hemissi, a Swedish-Tunisian national, flew into London on December 20 and left the country for Copenhagen, Denmark, in the early hours of Christmas Day, the court heard.

He is said to have stayed in a river-front flat in Battersea and carried out reconnaissance trips in disguise, using a bicycle and a litter-picking device earlier bought by accomplices.

On one occasion, two days before the murder, Mr Hemissi allegedly dressed in work clothing, including a jacket and trousers with neon flashes, boots a hat and gloves.

Mr Heywood told jurors Mr Hemissi cycled to Beqiri's home, then walked around the area for four and a half hours with a "black bag in one hand and a litter picker in the other".

"Not only was his head covered with a dark hat, his neck wrapped up high towards his face, his eyes covered with sunglasses, but also, it will be a matter for you to consider, it appears as if he was wearing a Latex mask as well," he told the jury.

But the court heard he aroused the suspicions of a local dog walker, who challenged Mr Hemissi, causing him to walk off.

"The litter-picker outfit was not worn again because his cover is blown, it is as simple as that," Mr Heywood said.

He said Mr Hemissi wore a Latex mask with another disguise to carry out reconnaissance the following day, and the same dark clothing when he shot Beqiri.

Mr Hemissi denies murder and possession of a self-loading pistol.

He is on trial with Swedish nationals Estevan Pino-Munizaga, 35, Tobias Fredrik Andersson, 32, and Bawer Karaer, 23, who are said to have been part of the team sent to assist Mr Hemissi. They also deny murder.

UK national Clifford Rollox, 31, of Islington, north London, and Dutch national Claude Isaac Castor, 21, from Sint Maarten in the Caribbean but resident in the UK, deny perverting the course of justice.

Mr Heywood earlier said the pair were involved in "clearing up and removing the tools of the killer's trade" at the flat where the alleged shooter stayed on Christmas Day and December 27, 2019.

Mr Karaer's cousin, Ahmet Karaer, is alleged to have had a hand in the "planning, money movement and most probably in the giving of instructions", helped by his partner and the mother of his children, Azadeh Etesamipour.

Neither are on trial, which continues.