A 'hitman' accused of gunning down the brother of a Real Housewives of Cheshire star claims he was told to travel to London by his Swedish crime boss cousin and had no idea about a murder, a court has heard.
Flamur 'Alex' Beqiri, 36, whose sister Misse Beqiri appeared in Real Housewives Of Cheshire, was shot in front of his wife and two-year-old son on the doorstep of his £1.5m family home in Battersea, southwest London.
Southwark Crown Court heard the hit was organised by Swedish crime boss Ahmed Karaer, who has since since disappeared.
Alleged gunman Anis Fouad Hemissi, 24, alongside his Swedish compatriots Bawer Karaer, 23, Tobias Andersson, 32, Estevan Munizaga, 35, deny murdering the father-of-two on December 24, 2019.
Claude Isaac-Castor, 22, and Clifford Rollox, 31, deny perverting the course of justice between the 24 and 28 December 2019.
Flamur 'Alex' Beqiri, 36, a Swedish national of Albanian heritage and whose sister Misse Beqiri appeared in Real Housewives Of Cheshire, was murdered outside his £1.5m home in Battersea, southwest London, on Christmas Eve 2019 (both pictured)
Flamur 'Alex' Beqiri, 36, was killed in front of his wife Debora Krasniqi (they are pictured together)
Giving evidence today, Bawer Karaer said on December 23 2019 he had been unexpectedly told by his crime boss cousin Ahmed to travel to London on the same day.
He claimed his cousin wanted him to go to the UK to assist in a burglary involving expensive watches, an offer he immediately rejected.
'I told him I wasn't comfortable with that,' said Bawer. 'I am not involved in crimes like that. He knew that, but he said 'think about it.'
Later that afternoon, Ahmed called him and told him 'you are going', informing his cousin he had already bought plane tickets for him that evening.
Bawer said he viewed his cousin Ahmed 'as an older brother' and
