Fiancee's 'panic' as partner shot

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The fiancee of a young father shot dead outside his home has told a jury of her panic at seeing him covered in blood.

Peter Woodhams, 22, of Canning Town, east London, died after being shot by Bradley Tucker, 18, of Canning Town.

Mr Woodhams' fiancee Jane Bowden heard shots then went outside last August. "I was running towards Pete and when I saw him fall I just panicked," she said.

At the Old Bailey Mr Tucker admits Mr Woodhams' manslaughter, but has denied murdering him.

A 17-year-old youth - said to have been a lookout - also denies murder. The pair have also pleaded not guilty to firearms offences.

'Started staggering'

Earlier on Wednesday jurors were shown CCTV footage of Mr Woodhams leaving his car on 21 August 2006 to chase a gang of youths.

It showed Mr Woodhams returning to his car and then driving home, where he lived with Miss Bowden, 24, and their three-year-old son.

He quickly ran out of the house again, before Miss Bowden told the court she heard "three or four" gunshots.

At the time I just thought it was something like a pellet gun because I never expected somebody to be walking round the streets with a proper gun Jane Bowden

"At the time I just thought it was something like a pellet gun because I never expected somebody to be walking round the streets with a proper gun," she said.

She saw Mr Woodhams standing in the road trying to kick a youth, who was standing six or seven feet away from him and subsequently ran off, the court heard.

"He started staggering and I saw he had blood over him," Miss Bowden said.

"He fell to the floor and his chin hit the floor. He couldn't stop himself with his hand. He just collapsed."

'Converted' gun

A paramedic performed emergency surgery on Mr Woodhams in the back of an ambulance, but he was declared dead at the Royal London Hospital.

Earlier Brian Altman, prosecuting, said: "The deliberate killing of Mr Woodhams, when he had dared confront the youth or youths he thought were responsible for making his life a misery, was utterly disproportionate, utterly senseless and utterly evil.

"This was nothing less than a revenge attack, a punishment to teach him a lesson."

A firearms expert who examined four bullet cartridges at the scene found they had been adapted to allow a projectile to be inserted into the blank shell.

"The gun which fired these casings was likely to have been a converted self-loading blank firing pistol," Mr Altman said.

The weapon has not been recovered by police.