Croydon gun victim 'had no links to gangs'

A 20-YEAR-OLD killed in a drive-by shooting was a straight-A student who had nothing to do with gangs, his brother said today.

Ricardo Cox was killed walking home with his brother from a fast food restaurant in Croydon on Wednesday night. A car pulled up beside them in Derby Road and two men in it asked, "Do you know the Bird Gang?" before shooting him three times.

His brother, who asked not to be named, said they did not know the men and it must have been a case of mistaken identity. He added: "I have lost one half of my life."

He said Mr Cox never had anything to do with gangs. He had left Ashburton School with straight As in his GCSEs then studied at Croydon and Coulsdon Colleges. His parents and two sisters, 18 and five, live in Jamaica. The brother said: "My parents are heartbroken."

His aunt Juliette Mitchell, of Thornton Heath, added: "They took away a happy, beautiful, bright young man."