Operation Trident scored a success as two cousins were convicted of carrying out a carjacking in Kingston, in which a man was shot.

Nico Codner, 19 and Duraney Kavanaugh, 21, were found guilty by a jury at Kingston Crown Court last Wednesday, following an investigation by Trident officers, who investigate black-on-black shootings.

The duo had denied any involvement in the incident, in which a BMW was hijacked and a man shot in Wood Street on February 10 last year.

It happened as Marco Pinto and Victor Emeh, both in their 20s, were returning from the Works nightclub at 3am when their car was hijacked.

Mr Pinto, who was driving, described in court how a hand reached through his open window at traffic lights and grabbed the keys from the ignition.

He was dragged from the car and punched before making his escape. It was while he was running away that he heard "a loud bang".

Mr Emeh, who was shot in the thigh, identified Mr Codner, of Huxley Gardens, Park Royal, as the man who shot him.

The jury was unconvinced by Codner's claim that he was buying a car in Uxbridge on the night of the hijacking. He was just 17 at the time of the incident.

Mr Kavanaugh, of the same address, did not give evidence.

The defendants were arrested last October following an investigation by Operation Trident, a task force launched in 1998 to tackle gun crime in the black community.

Trident have now carried out three investigations in Kingston.

Nobody has yet been charged following an incident in October 2002 when a man was shot during a car-jacking outside The Works nightclub in the town centre.

And in April this year a man was stabbed and shot by a group of males in Kingston's Portman Road following an altercation at a house party in Cambridge Road. Again, no arrests have been made.

Trident officer Detective Sergeant Kevin McSharry said: "Kavanaugh was arrested after going to the police with a cover story, attempting to create an alibi but giving a false name. Codner was arrested after forensic evidence linked his DNA to the incident."

Both men were picked out by Pinto and Emeh during identification procedures.

Det Sgt McSharry said: "It the investigation was an achievement because the witness and the victim were frightened to go to court and that happens a lot in Trident cases, so it was good to get a conviction."

Det Sgt McSharry who was also involved in investigating the shooting in 2002, said there is nothing that links any of the three shootings in Kingston. Those who carried out the two unsolved shootings are also thought to have come into the town from outside the Kingston area.

After a week-long trial Codner and Kavanaugh were found guilty of robbery and possession of a firearm. Codner was also found guilty of GBH with intent but Kavanaugh was cleared of this charge.

They are due to be sentenced on June 24.

hsummers@london.newsquest.co.uk