Slain Albanian bricklayer called man in the wrong place at wrong time

A judge said yesterday that Prel Marku, 23, a bricklayer from Shkrode, Albania, was “an entirely innocent man” unconnected to the criminal rivalry behind the shooting at the social club in Britian’s Park Royal in which he was slain. Marku had not been planning to go out, but friends persuaded him to come and have a coffee in the social club and relax for a bit. He relented and was clearly enjoying himself – strumming tunelessly on a ceftili, a traditional two-stringed instrument – when the gunman appeared at the door and started shooting. A bullet hit Mr Marku on the left side of his head, exiting at the back and causing a fatal brain injury. He was taken to the Central Middlesex Hospital, then Charing Cross, but nothing could be done to save him. Anton Leka, Mr Marku’s uncle, told The Times: “The men who killed Prel never knew him. They’d never seen him before. They just opened fire. He was a very hard working young man, he was always working and when he could he would send money home to his parents in Albania.” Mr Leka said that although there was a tradition of seeking revenge in Albanian culture, his family knew that nothing could bring his nephew back. He added: “We are angry because we have lost him. But this is not a time for revenge. We believe the courts will deal with everything for us.” Detective Inspector Tariq Sarwar said: “I do not believe that Prel Marku was the intended target of these crimes. He was someone who sadly found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.”