A FRIEND of 16-year-old Brendon Lawrence was robbed at gunpoint by a man the same night his pal was shot dead.

Osei Samms, who had known Brendon since he was 13, heard what he believed to be gunshots as he walked in St Ann's on February 19, 2002

Statements made by Mr Samms were read to a Nottingham Crown Court jury.

Mr Samms, then 17 and a drug dealer, was robbed by Nigel Daniels known by the nickname Nuts, and another man off Mansfield Road.

"Nuts had a gun and pressed it into my chest area," said Mr Samms. "He said 'give me your phone, give me your money, give me all you have got'. The second man stood around the back of me and I felt what I thought was a blade into my back."

His pockets were searched and cash and drugs taken.

Rene Sarpong, 29, of Lamartine Street, St Ann's, denies murdering Brendon in Watkin Street, St Ann's.

Brendon was shot four times as he waited in his cousin's red Ford Fiesta XR2i. His killers drove off in the car and abandoned it in abandoned in Westville Gardens, St Ann's.

DNA found on clothing in the car could have come from Sarpong. Mr Daniels' DNA was not on clothes recovered from the car Brendon had been in and there was no gunshot residue on his trousers.

Sarpong is on trial with Gary Brown, 45, of Hunloke Road, Chesterfield, who denies assisting an offender by getting rid of the gun used to kill Brendon.

Proceeding