A group of men have been jailed today for a collective 47 years after policeuncovered ‘gun for hire’ plot
The court heard how these men were linked to an organised crime group who’d been involved in a number of disputes with other criminals.
Following an alleged attack on a family friend, one member, Jacob Smith decided to purchase a firearm and take matters into his own hands.
The first incident occurred on Sunday 8 December 2019 when when two other members Aaron Gray and Dominic Hughes drove by and shot at a premises on Eccles New Road.
Fleeing the scene, the men caused a serious collision where a local taxi driver ended up with serious injuries which left him unable to work for months.
The group were caught on CCTV running from the chaos they’d caused and disposing of their clothes, balaclavas, and the loaded firearm in a nearby bin.
On Monday 27 April 2020, Greater Manchester Police raided an address in Radcliffe connected to another gang member Ian Wharmby and recovered a firearm, wrapped in a sock, hidden behind a fridge. Examinations confirmed this was the firearm used to fire the bullet at the house on Coniston Avenue.
Police were also able to recover mobile devices that helped link the firearm to each of the men associated with the conspiracy, including messages from a fifth member Craig Walker where he arranged to obtain the firearm for Smith. These texts detailed the entire transaction and more.
Within 30 minutes of the transaction, Wharmby was tasked with dropping the firearm off in Swinton.
In an attempt to evade detection during the peak of COVID lockdown, he used his work van to transport the firearm as he thought that would be less suspicious.
In addition to the firearms offences, each of the individuals were heavily involved with the supply of cocaine, heroin, and cannabis. All of which they have been sentenced for today.
Detective Inspector Rick Castley of GMP Serious Organised Crime Group said: “This is another example of a successful operation that has taken out offenders involved in serious and organised crime. This group have been terrorising the community who have been stuck in the middle of their petty disputes, and it has resulted in innocent members of the public being seriously harmed just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I know that at the time of us conducting this operation there may have been concern in the local community, but I hope the action we took back then, and todays convictions, shows GMP’s commitment to ensuring dangerous individuals are taken out of society and put behind bars for a long time.
“This investigation was extensive, and it was meticulous. My team spent hours trawling through CCTV, thousands of text messages, taking witness accounts and combing through forensic evidence.
“We understand our fight against organised crime is far from over but let this be a warning that we will vigorously pursue offenders involved in this type of crime in order to make our communities safer.”
