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Three men who ambushed a man in a brutal shotgun attack in Croydon have been jailed for a total of 44 years.
Tevin Nzita, 29, Anthony Da Sousa, 30, and Christopher Da Sousa, 27, were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday.
The attack came when the victim, a man in his 30s, was standing beside his parked car in New Addington when he was ambushed in broad daylight in May 2025.
A black saloon car pulled alongside him before one of the passengers got out and fired two shots at close range, just seconds after the victim managed to jump into the driver’s seat.
The first shot smashed through the windscreen and narrowly missed him, before the gunman ran around the car and fired a second shot, striking him in the chest.
Armed officers secured the scene, while the victim made his way to a nearby hospital. Despite suffering serious injuries, the man survived and has since recovered.
Officers recovered a mobile phone from the victim’s car, which contained footage of the victim and another man confronting Mr Nzita around ten minutes before the shooting, enabling them to identify him as the suspected gunman.
Officers then trawled through CCTV footage to trace the movements of the suspects before and after the attack, and established that Mr Nzita fired the shotgun, Anthony Da Sousa drove the car used in the attack and his brother Christopher Da Sousa played a key role in finding the victim, giving directions and assisting with preparations beforehand.
Forensic examinations confirmed the weapon used was a sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun fired at close range.
Detectives tracked the vehicle to Old Coulsdon, where Anthony Da Sousa had arranged for damage to be repaired before cloned number plates were fitted.
Anthony Da Sousa and Tevin Nzita were arrested within two weeks of the shooting, while Christopher Da Sousa was identified and arrested in December.
The three defendants were convicted on June 4 at Woolwich Crown Court.
Mr Nzita was convicted of attempted murder while Anthony Da Sousa was convicted of wounding with intent. Both were also convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Christopher Da Sousa was convicted of encouraging or assisting the commission of one or more offences.
On Thursday, Mr Nzita was sentenced to 25 years in prison, while Anthony Da Sousa was sentenced to 15 years and Christopher Da Sousa to 4 years,
Detective Constable John Davis, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, who led the investigation, said: “This was an incredibly dangerous attack carried out in a residential street where innocent members of the public could easily have been caught in the crossfire.
“The offenders acted together to locate the victim, track his movements and carry out a planned shooting using a sawn-off shotgun capable of killing. Their actions showed a complete disregard for human life.
“Our investigation combined CCTV enquiries, forensic evidence, mobile phone analysis and eyewitness accounts to build an overwhelming case that proved the role each man played.”
