THE two men shot on an Islington estate were cradled by neighbours as they lay dying in the early hours.

Lee Wallace, 25, and Jayson Hassan, 28, were standing outside Strang House on the Cummings Estate, off Britannia Row, when two gunmen walked up and opened fire.

Strang House residents who heard the gunshots ran downstairs to see what was happening – and found Mr Wallace slumped in a corner and Mr Hassan lying in someone’s front garden.

Four residents went to their aid and tried to comfort them after the shooting at 4.30am on November 9.

One, a 42-year-old mum who works in education, said: “Lee was still alive. He was trying to hang on. We put him into the recovery position. I told him that he wasn’t alone and that somebody was there for him. He just lasted a few minutes but I feel comforted to know that he didn’t die on his own, whether or not he knew I was there.

“When Lee passed away, I went over to Jayson and stayed with him, talking to him and trying to comfort him. He was trying to breathe. Then the police turned up. I am never going to get rid of that image of Lee lying in a corner.”

Mr Wallace, of Broadway, Loughton, was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr Hassan, of Horatio Street, Bethnal Green, was rushed to hospital, where he died the following day.

Flowers and candles have been left at the estate by friends, relatives and local residents. A poem from Mr Hassan’s mum, Jennifer, said: “My days return to being empty and pointless because I am without my son, the sun doesn’t seem as bright and trees don’t seem as green without my son. I am dieing (sic) the slowest of deaths, because I am without my son.”

Detectives are still trying to establish a motive for the killing but people from Strang House have refuted claims that there is a drug problem on the estate – or that the children’s playground near the site of the shooting is a drug dealers’ hangout. The 42-year-old mum said: “It’s rubbish that the Cummings Estate is a drugs warren. The people who said that are just mistaken. There is no more of a drugs problem on the Cummings Estate than there is anywhere else.

“I don’t know what these boys were into but this is not a known drugs area. This has changed the atmosphere on the estate. We are all scared.”

Another Strang House resident, who was also with the men as they died, said: “I have lived on the estate for 25 years and I have always felt very safe here and to tar this estate as a rough area is wrong.”

l Anyone who can assist police should call the incident room on 020 8345 3775 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.