Shot boy ‘begged his neighbour not to leave’
A BOY of seven begged his neighbour not to leave him after he and his mother were gunned down on their doorstep in an attempted gangland assassination, a jury was told.
Christian Hickey junior and his mother Jayne, 30, were blasted in the legs when they opened the door of their home in a suburb in Winton, Eccles,on October 12, 2015.
Prosecutors have said that the likely target was the boy’s father Chris, who was a friend of gang land leader Michael Carroll. Mr Carroll was at war with rival Salford gang - The A Team - but something went wrong, it was alleged.
As the trial of eight men continued at Manchester Crown Court yesterday, the jury heard evidence from a neighbour of the Hickey family first on scene following the shooting.
In a statement read to the court, Roy Tench said he had been watching TV with his wife on the evening of October 12, when he heard ‘two explosions’ in quick succession outside his house.
Mr Tench said: “I made my way to the front door and I could hear a faint wailing sound - I got the impression it was a woman.” Mr Tench said he shut the door but a short time later was alerted to the Hickey’s daughter at their door, saying that her mother had been shot.
“As I looked into the house Jayne was lying in the hallway and screaming in pain. Her husband was running around frantically saying we needed an ambulance,” the statement read.
“I could see her leggings were stained with blood and there was a pool of blood on the floor. On the sofa I could see their son lying down. He was white in a state a shock and said ‘don’t leave me.’ I could see a bullet hole through the front door.”
The court heard evidence that officers from GMP’s Tactical Unit closely guarded Manchester Royal Infirmary, where Jayne and Christian were receiving treatment for extensive leg injuries.
A paediatric surgeon operating on Christian Hickey junior later found a 9mm parabellum copper bullet in his thigh, the court was told.
Ballistic experts told the court that three bullet cases were recovered from the road, pavement and inside the Hickey’s kitchen, following the shooting.
Forensic expert, Philip Siemen told the court he believed one bullet went through the door of the house and hit a wall and a second bullet was fired as Jayne stood in the doorway.
“That bullet has passed through both her legs and in doing so lost momentum and so when it struck Christian, it does not pass through,” he said.
Ballistic expert Helen Heavyside concluded that the Heckler & Koch handgun picked up in a taxi with Christopher Hall in December 2015 was used in two shootings in the Greater Manchester area.
The first shooting was on March 30, 2015, during the shooting of Jamie Rothwell at a car wash in Ashton-in-Makerfield, she told the court.
She confirmed that a number of months later, the pistol was used in the shooting incident at the Hickey’s home.
Carne Thomasson, 28, Christopher Hall, 49, Aldaire Warmington, 32, all of no fixed abode; and John Thomasson, 50, of Wakefield Crescent, Stockport, each deny a charge that they conspired with others to commit murder between October 10 and 13, 2015.
The four men and three others -James Coward, 21, of no fixed abode; Lincoln Warmington, 32, of Summerville Road, Salford; and Dominic Walton, 26,of no fixed abode - deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
The particulars of the charge allege the seven men conspired with others to dispose of an Audi car said to have been used as part of the alleged conspiracy to commit murder.
Beside the seven men in the dock is another accused over an earlier shooting.
John Kent, 54, of Culverwell Drive, Salford, earlier denied conspiring with others to commit murder in connection with the shooting 28-year-old Jamie Rothwell at a car wash on Bolton Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield on March 30, 2015.