Witness to 2009 murder ‘told he would be charged’ unless he gave Met a name

Mother of man who testified against Kai Shannon, whose conviction is being examined by CCRC, says police pressured her son

Fresh doubts have been cast over a 2009 gang murder conviction after the mother of the prosecution’s star witness said he was threatened with being charged with the crime himself if he did not give police a name.

Kai Shannon, 33, is 13 years into a life prison sentence for the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Wahab Zaaki on the Attlee Terrace estate in Walthamstow, east London, on 13 March 2009. He has always insisted he is innocent.