Two assassins poked a Mac 10 sub-machine gun through an open window and shot a man dead, a court heard.

Lemuel Robinson, 27, of Collingwood Road, Sutton, and Andrew Cross, 28, of Colchester, are accused of gunning down Larry Malone in a hail of bullets.

The 24-year-old was sitting on a sofa at his aunt's home in Harpenden Road, West Norwood, when he was hit in the forehead as the gunmen sprayed seven bullets into the room, the court was told.

The fatal shooting took place just after midnight on September 2, 2009.

The gun, which is designed to fire at a rapid rate, was recovered 40 hours later by police at a petrol station in Anerley Park.

Police pounced as it was handed over by Robinson's 20-year-old girlfriend Shevonne Legister to Dino Rouillon in a white van, jurors were told.

Miss Legister was seen getting out of a taxi with a JD Sports bag containing the gun wrapped in a Gingham dress, the court heard.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis, said: "The prosecution say that they were, each of them, working for somebody else, doing somebody else's business.

"Miss Legister was working for the two men we are trying - Mr Robinson and Mr Cross - and Mr Rouillon was there working for a man called Shubiah Linton.

"Robinson and Cross had been involved in shooting Mr Malone with this firearm in Harpenden Road.

"They needed a plan to deal with the firearm after that because if you are like Harpenden Road firing a machine gun it is going to attract a great deal of attention.

"Quite quickly the whole place is going to be swamped with police officers.

"You don't want to be caught with the gun, so you need somewhere nearby where you can put it safely so you can escape."

Mr Edis said phone records showed Mr Robinson had contacted miss Legister, with whom he was in a relationship before the murder to arrange the handover of the gun.

Legister was captured on CCTV going to KFC at around 12.15am, around the time of the shooting, and made a number of texts and calls to Robinson but was unable to get through.

Mr Edis said: "The killers had the weapon and Mr Robinson was able to prevail upon her to do his dirty work."

Mr Cross, and Mr Robinson,,both deny murder.

Miss Legister, of Wolfingdon Road, West Norwood, and Mr Rouillon have both admitted possessing a firearm.

The trial continues.