Renewed Appeal Over Shoreditch Bar Shooting

The family of a man who died 13 years after he was shot at a bar in Shoreditch have issued an appeal for information on what would have been his 40th birthday.

Marvin Couson was shot during an incident in the Lime Bar on Curtain Road, Shoreditch on Saturday 12 May, 2002. As a result of the shooting, he was confined to a hospital bed, unable to communicate or do anything for himself. He passed away on Saturday 8 August, 2015.

On the day of the shooting, Marvin had visited the Lime Bar with his cousin and a friend, but in the early hours of 12 May, they fled, along with a large number of other people, after shots were fired inside the bar. Outside, Marvin's friend saw a red or burgundy Ford Fiesta, thought to contain at least two black men, driving fast along Curtain Road. The vehicle struck him and he grappled with the front seat passenger.

A gun was then fired and the friend walked back towards the bar to see father-of-two Marvin lying shot on the ground. Police were called to the bar at around 3.40am following reports of gunfire. At the scene, officers found Marvin, then aged 26, outside the bar with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken by ambulance to the Royal London Hospital in a critical condition with injuries to his heart and other internal organs. The injuries he sustained meant he was left unable to care for himself or leave his hospital bed, nor could he communicate and had no capacity to understand anything said to him.

During the course of the investigation, one man was arrested but later released with no further action.

Today, 5 November, would have been Marvin's 40th birthday, and his family have issued a fresh appeal for information regarding the shooting. Around 600 people are understood to have been at the bar when the shooting happened.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8785 8099 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

(JP)