Blinded victim's plea: Find gunman

Detectives hope a shocking picture of a blinded teenager will help them find the gunman who shot him in a drive-by attack.

Abdul Malik, who was then 19, was standing outside his home in Plaistow with his brother and two friends when a car pulled up beside them.

A window was wound down by one of four men believed to be inside the vehicle and a single shot fired in Mr Malik's direction, hitting him in the head.

Mr Malik needed to be resuscitated before having emergency surgery to remove blood clots on his brain.

Since the shooting on Easter bank holiday Monday, Mr Malik has undergone a series of operations but he will never regain his sight. He has only recently been able to leave hospital to return home.

Officers from the Metropolitan police's Trident team, which deals with gun crime in the black community, are investigating the shooting and believe Mr Malik was a victim of mistaken identity. Mr Malik, who is now 20, is today appealing to find his assailants. It is hoped this will convince those with information to contact police who are trying to trace the occupants of a red Vauxhall Vectra seen in the area at the time of the shooting.

It is unprecedented for a victim of a Trident shooting to make a direct plea for information because of safety fears.

His fiancée Misty Russell, 19, said in May: "My parents love him, everyone does because he is just the sweetest person."

He was being joined at the press conference by his brother Momin who witnessed the attack at 7.30pm in Howard Road on Monday 9 April.

"We were just standing there and then this car pulled up and I heard a bang. I looked down and my brother was on the ground with blood coming from his head," he said at the time.

The 28-year-old said his family had only moved into the area three weeks before the attack and he had no idea why they had been targeted. "If they could do this to my brother they could do it to anyone. People must come forward to get them off the streets," he said.

Two 17-year-olds were arrested in connection with the shooting of Mr Malik on suspicion of attempted murder and have been bailed to return to an east London police station.

Mr Malik, who had just been accepted on a course to become an air steward, was shot in a year when gun and knife crime among young people in London spiralled. So far 22 teenagers have been murdered in the capital, seven by shooting.

Anyone with information about Mr Malik's shooting should telephone police on 020 8733 6217 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.