Toni-Ann jury hear of last scream

Toni-Ann died after being shot in the back

A woman has told the Old Bailey of the moment she heard Toni-Ann Byfield scream, just before she was shot dead.

Eumara David, who lived above Betram Byfield in north-west London, told the Old Bailey she heard a bang "like a chair being thrown against a wall".

"I heard more bangs... four shots and the little girl scream and then it went quiet," she said.

Joel Smith, 32, denies murdering Mr Byfield and seven-year-old Toni Ann in Harlesden in September 2003.

Ms David said she did not take much notice of the noise at first because Mr Byfield "has had arguments before".

If someone had shot a child, they are not going to think twice about shooting me Pc Arthur Simpson

Also giving evidence on the second day of the trial was Pc Arthur Simpson, who told how he arrived at the bedsit to find the door open and a young girl in a nightdress lying on the floor.

He spotted Mr Byfield's body on top of a mountain bike and called for assistance, while checking Toni-Ann for a pulse.

As he waited for help, he wondered if the gunman was still in the bedsit, he told the court.

He said he thought: "If someone had shot a child, they are not going to think twice about shooting me."

The prosecution alleges that Mr Smith was a "self confessed gunman and robber of drug dealers" who killed Mr Byfield, then shot Toni-Ann in the back to eliminate her as a witness.

The trial has heard Mr Byfield, also known as Tony, was a convicted drug dealer who continued to trade in cocaine up until his death.

Toni-Ann, who was raised in Jamaica, had been in the care of Birmingham Social Services, but was allowed to visit her father while her foster family were on holiday.

Post-mortem tests showed that Mr Byfield was not the biological father of Toni-Ann.

The trial continues.