A man acquitted of a Valentine’s Day murder in Battersea has been shot by two masked gunmen on a motorbike.

Terry Clark, 25, was in a serious condition in hospital after being shot in the arm and leg during the attack on July 20.

Mr Clark was walking with friends in Wandsworth Road, at the junction with Thessaly Road, Battersea, at about 11.50pm, when the attack happened.

The gunmen approached the group on a high-powered, dark coloured, motorbike and, after the shooting, sped off towards Clapham.

Emergency crews treated Mr Clark at the scene and his friend, a 28-year-old who was also shot, later admitted himself to hospital. Both men were under armed police guard in hospital.

In April, Mr Clark, his brother Lewis, 22, and Ian Jenkins, from Battersea and Wandsworth, were acquitted of murdering Steven Bates, 36.

Mr Bates was crushed between a Vauxhall Astra and a Land Rover Freelander near the Queen’s Arms pub in Tennyson Street on February 14 last year.

He died from a 20cm wound to the neck, which caused massive blood loss. He was also stabbed three times in the back.

At the Old Bailey trial the jury heard Mr Bates was in a relationship with the brothers’ mum Philippa while their dad, also named Terry Clark was in jail for armed robbery.

On the night he died Mr Bates spent the evening with his long-term girlfriend, Nicola Buckland, with whom he had three children.

He left her flat at 11pm after receiving a phone call and told Ms Buckland he was going to buy more wine. An hour later he was dead.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Trident South Shootings Team, based at Jubilee House, Putney, are appealing for witnesses to the shooting.

Detective Constable Jane Mallia said: “We would like to hear from anyone who was in the area and may have seen anything of the incident, or seen a motorbike of this description around the area at this time.”

No arrests have been made.

Police have failed to respond to speculation that the two attacks could be linked.

Call police on 020 8785 8580 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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