Behind 19 attacks, nation’s most used firearm Gun that terrified Britain
This gun, involved in 19 shootings, has been identified as the most criminally used firearm in Britain.
The Beretta 9000s semiautomatic pistol was passed around drug and organised crime gangs in scotland and Merseyside over seven years.
six men were injured in the shootings, including one who was shot seven times and survived only because he was wearing a motorcycle helmet.
Other attacks, many in broad daylight, saw the gun fired at homes, takeaways and near a primary school.
The story of the Beretta can be told for the first time after members of a criminal gang were sentenced to a total of 88 years in jail for drug and firearms offences at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday.
Analysis by ballistic experts revealed that the handgun was used in scottish shootings in Erskine and Glasgow in early 2010, before it fell into the hands of criminals in Liverpool where it was used in another 17 attacks. it was finally seized by police in July 2017. The Beretta was fired 16 times in Liverpool between Christmas Day 2010 and May 2014 in the Kirkby, Norris Green, Tuebrook and West Derby areas of the city, by gangs dealing in cocaine, heroin and cannabis, as they fought for control of the drugs trade. Five men suffered non-life threatening injuries in the shootings.
The Beretta then lay idle for three years until May 2017 when it was used in an attempted murder.
Motorcyclist Mark Gaskill, 26, was shot seven times in broad daylight in Wavertree, Liverpool.
he was wearing a helmet and survived, despite needing emergency brain surgery. After the shooting Merseyside police’s serious Organised Crime Unit set up Operation Blush to find the gunman.
The surveillance operation focused initially on James Lunt, 29, the leader of the Wavertree-based WAVO 420 gang. he was convicted of ordering the hit but the shooter has never been successfully prosecuted.
Detective Chief inspector steve Reardon told the Daily Mail that his team established that Lunt and another criminal, Adam Bigley, 26,
‘Criminal associates’
who ran the Pingwood gang based in Kirkby, north Liverpool, had shared a cell at hMP Kennet, in Maghull, Merseyside, in 2016.
DCi Reardon said: ‘i wouldn’t say they were friends, but they became criminal associates because they shared a cell together. We knew they were in contact with each other when they were released. They loaned the gun to each other to help progress their criminality.’
in July 2017 Bigley texted his former cell mate Lunt to ask to borrow his gun. They met at a children’s playground. Father- of- one Lunt and one of his side-kicks even took their children along.
But unbeknown to the gang members, officers from Merseyside police were watching. They then swooped on the home Bigley shared with his parents in Kirkby, and discovered the loaded Beretta behind a toilet.
in August 2017 Bigley admitted possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition without a firearm certificate and was jailed for six years and nine months.
After the gun was recovered the National Ballistic intelligence service (NABis) were able to confirm it had been used in 19 shootings.
DCi Reardon said: ‘We can’t say how it came to Liverpool from Glasgow, but we know it did.
‘it has been used in the business of drug dealing. Both gangs had drugs supply businesses and this firearm has helped them in the running of those businesses.’ Lunt admitted five gun and drugs offences, including conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life, and was yesterday jailed for 21 years.
seven other gang members were jailed for a total of 67 years.