Horror in Eastbank Street Shocking CCTV of thug in Christmas shootings
SHOCKING CCTV shows the moment a drug dealer ran through the street in Southport town centre in front of horrified Christmas shoppers after blasting a rival with a shotgun.
Jamie Bridge, 22, was last week jailed for 24 years at Liverpool Crown Court after admitting intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but denying attempted murder in a three-day trial.
After the verdict, Merseyside police released the CCTV of the moments before and after the cowardly attack.
In the footage Bridge can be seen cycling down the street, hooded and dressed in black, before later running through the street holding a shotgun.
Bridge fired at Christopher Jopson with a sawn-off shotgun in Southport town centre at lunchtime on December 21 last year.
The 22-year-old, of Wyresdale Road, Aintree, also hit bus driver Lee Armstrong, an innocent bystander, as parents and children looked on in disbelief.
Bridge had been released from a two-year jail sentence for dealing heroin and cocaine and possessing a blade in public in February 2017.
He admitted wounding Mr Armstrong plus possessing a firearm with intent to both endanger life and to cause fear of violence.
Mr Jopson had 30 pellets removed from the back of his head, while Mr Armstrong, 32, suffered wounds to his head and left shoulder.
Mr Armstrong did not wish for his personal victim statement to be read out in court, although Judge Denis Watson, QC, said: “It contains the useful information that the pellet that was embedded in his head is still there.”
The Th jd judge said id th that t perhaps h th the risk of having it removed was greater than his concern about having it remain in his head and said this is “a lasting consequence of the injury”.
Bridge claimed that he only wanted “to put (Mr Jopson) in hospital” after Mr Jopson threatened him with guns and robbed and stabbed his underling, Simon Dunn.
The CCTV footage released after the verdict shows the masked gunman chase and fire at Mr Jopson, in the middle of the road in Eastbank Street, at around 12.27pm.
Arriva worker Mr Armstrong had just waved 15 people on to a bus when he heard “a loud bang and cracking noise” and suddenly felt pain.
After the verdict, Merseyside police Det Insp Andy McCourt said: id “This “Thi was an appalling lli i incii dent which took place in full view of people of all ages going about their business in the middle of a busy town centre street, close to Christmas.
“Witnesses included an injured bus driver, and schoolchildren, and the impact on everyone in the town involved in this incident has clearly been significant.
“This was a targeted incident and thankfully one in which the injuries sustained by the victim were not even more serious, but the sheer recklessness of Bridge’s actions last December cannot be overestimated.
“It is by sheer good fortune that nobody, either the victim or any bystanders, were killed, and to see Bridge taken off the streets for the foreseeable future is to be welcomed.
“Once again, we have seen that criminals i i l who h use firearms fi are throwing away their life and destroying that of others. The sentencing should strongly deter those who are considering this path of criminality.’’
DI McCourt added: “We will relentlessly pursue anyone who gets involved in gun crime in Merseyside.
‘‘Firearms blight local communities and residents can rest assured that our efforts will continue to bring offenders to justice.
“Information from the community is vital and we will continue to act on all information that we receive to continue such good results. Keep coming forward and let us do the rest.”
Anyone with information on gun crime is asked to contact the gun crime hotline on 0800 230 0600, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.