• Elton Charles admitted driving in convoy with Nathaniel St Aimie towards scene
• But he said he had pulled over to smoke cannabis when restaurant was attacked

Lord Patten’s son-in-law today denied being involved in his half-brother’s alleged plot to shoot up an Indian restaurant in west London in an apparent bid to scare its owners.

Former florist Elton Charles, who is married to the last governor of Hong Kong’s daughter Laura Patten, admitted driving in convoy with Nathaniel St Aimie towards the scene of the alleged shooting at the PBK restaurant in Greenford in September last year.

But he insisted that he had joined the convoy to buy some cannabis from his half-brother and was sitting in his vehicle unaware of the alleged plot.

Kingston Crown Court heard that St Aimie told Charles ‘give me a minute’ before pulling on a balaclava and blasting the restaurant windows with a shotgun.

Nicholas Grant, 46, Lee Morgan, 42 and Charles are accused of being part of the plot hatched by St Aimie. Jurors have been shown CCTV showing a hooded gunman getting out of the white Volkswagen van before walking 50 yards towards the business and opening fire.

Giving evidence wearing a navy shirt and tie, Charles admitted he was a cannabis user. He told the court: ‘Occasionally I would like to smoke, you know, after work I would like to settle, chill, so I would smoke some cannabis.

‘My brother (St Aimie) would get some for me if he could. I wouldn’t go out and buy because it wasn’t a habit. My wife doesn’t like me smoking. I don’t smoke in the house and the kids don’t know I smoke. I’m not a smoker everyday, I can go without smoking for two months. It was once in a while.

‘It’s not a habit, it’s more for pleasure. I wasn’t addicted to the stuff.’

Speaking of the events on September 6, Charles denied having any idea what his brother was up to.

He said: ‘I was still at work at 5:01pm, I got home at 6:30pm. My wife works Tuesdays at eight o’clock, she does a pilates class so I got home and dealt with the kids.’

That evening Charles received texts from his brother. He then received a call from his brother from a burner phone.

‘He was just letting me know he had some weed for me – sorry, cannabis,’ he told the court. ‘It wasn’t unusual [to get a call from his burner phone]. My brother had quite a few phone numbers, all logged in my phone in different names. I started making my way to meet my brother to buy some cannabis. He just told me to come down towards Greenford.’

A call log showed one conversation between Charles and his brother lasted over four minutes.

‘It was just general conversation,’ Charles explained. ‘A little bit about cannabis. He just said to meet him near Greenford petrol station but nowhere in particular at that time.

‘I was driving my van, a black van. I didn’t see his vehicle at first. He pulled up around the corner and he came to my van. He gave me cannabis.’

Explaining why he did not pick up the cannabis from his home, Charles said: ‘My wife does not like me smoking cannabis and she definitely does not like me smoking that in the house.’

After the pick-up, Charles was asked by his brother to ‘hang about’. ‘I said I was just going to light a spliff, so I’ll hang about. I was going to build a spliff anyway. I pulled up and built a spliff.’

David Hislop, KC, representing Charles, asked if he knew anything about the shooting.

Charles said: ‘I didn’t know anything about that, I had no idea. I only stayed a little bit. He just said give him a couple of minutes.’

During the shooting plot, Charles received a call from his brother that lasted 44 seconds. At 22:43 Charles received another call from his brother.

Prosecutor Tom Nicholson said: ‘He calls you on the phone, having, we suggest, just conducted reconnaissance of the road and key areas around where the offence occurred. He’s calling you on a phone that is to be used for a criminal enterprise.’

Charles said: ‘I can’t remember what we were talking about. Football? Our kids are both doing football, talking about stuff like that.’

At the time of his arrest Charles said he was shocked.

‘I was quite shocked. I didn’t do anything wrong. I knew Nat (St Aimie) had been arrested but I didn’t know what he had done – the full extent of what he had done – but I didn’t expect to get arrested myself.’

Under interview Charles did not tell police that he was asked by his brother to ‘hang about’. Explaining this, Charles said: ‘Through the family I knew he was still saying he wasn’t there and I didn’t want to say anything that would get him into more trouble.

‘I felt very uncomfortable about it. I knew he’d been stupid but I didn’t want to get him in trouble. But I had no involvement whatsoever. I had no knowledge of what was going to happen or what happened.’

Describing his relationship with Nathaniel, Charles said: ‘I’m more like his dad than his friend. You know, dad wasn’t around, so I’m the one who looks after the family for support.’

Charles confirmed he has a few previous minor convictions, mostly for traffic matters. His last conviction was 27 years ago, but he told jurors that since then he has ‘been living a great life, a family life.’ He confirmed that his West Indian single-parent mother raised him and six other siblings. He lived his teens in northwest London.

Charles, of west London, Grant, and Morgan, of Leybourne, Kent, who allegedly supplied the weapon, deny conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. The trial continues.

After finishing school at 16, Charles got a job in painting and decorating. Following his wedding in Greece in 2002 he then became the building manager for the Groucho club in Soho.

Charles said: ‘I managed the building and we had 20 exclusive bedrooms. I worked there for six years. I then went to Westminster University to study construction management. I never worked with my brother in the courier business.’

Charles confirmed that his father-in-law is the former governor of Hong Kong and now a member of the House of Lords.

His wife, Laura, was a beauty journalist, but Charles confirmed: ‘She’s now been a pilates instructor for some years. We are earning around £10,000 a month. We own a home with a mortgage. It’s worth around £1.5million.’

Laura’s father Chris Patten was first elected as an MP for Bath in 1979. He lost his seat in 1992. He returned to the UK in 1997 after his role as the final governor of Hong Kong following the transfer of sovereignty to China.

Between 1999 and 2009, Patten was Newcastle University’s Chancellor and was elected for the same position at the University of Oxford in 2003. He has been a member of the House of Lords since 2005.

The trial continues.