Old Bailey told of sawn off shotgun allegations
TUP TUP shooting suspect Michael Dixon admitted being part of a plot to discharge a sawn-off weapon at a man’s home to “intimidate and terrify” him, a court heard.
Dixon is on trial accused of firing at a doorman outside the Newcastle nightclub in June 2015, allegedly on the orders of John Henry Sayers.
On Wednesday the Old Bailey jury heard details of Operation Tobago - a police investigation in August 2015, two months after the Tup Tup shooting.
Officers were then investigating a suspected plan to discharge a firearm into the home of a man called Christopher Brown, the court heard.
Prosecutor Simon Denison QC said the operation resulted in Dixon and two other men being arrested and charged for conspiracy to murder and an alternative charge of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.
The court heard the plan was organised by John Beckwith, who was in dispute with the intended victim, assisted by Wayne Peel and his father Anthony Peel.
Reading from a document of agreed facts, Mr Denison said: “All defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“At the Operation Tobago trial at the Central Criminal Court in October 2016, the prosecution opened the case by alleging Beckwith, Wayne Peel and Anthony Peel recruited Michael Dixon to carry out the shooting.
“Anthony Peel controlled the firearms which were kept buried in an allotment in Ashington, until shortly before the plan came to fruition when they were handed over to Michael Dixon.”
The jury heard that on August 13, 2015 Beckwith acquired a stolen motorbike that was to be used in the shooting.
He kept it stored in the back of a Renault in Sandy Bay Holiday Park.
Mr Denison said: “It was the prosecution’s case that Michael Dixon was recruited on August 19, 2015 to carry out the shooting.
“He was seen in the company of John Beckwith that day, he was seen in company with Wayne Peel on August 21 and 23.
“On the evening of August 23, before the shooting was to take place, Michael Dixon drove in his transit van to a car park. He was met by Wayne Peel.
“They collected the Renault van and drove it to the car park in Cramlington.
“From that time Dixon was in charge of the Renault van with the shotgun and ammunition in the front passenger seat.”
The court was told Dixon spent that night in the Ford van and remained in that area during the day of August 24.
Shortly after 6.30pm he drove away from the car park, leaving the Renault van unguarded.
Mr Denison said: “Police officers who had been watching the van took the opportunity to search it.
“Under the front passenger seat was a crumpled paper bag, inside which was a sawn-off shotgun loaded with two cartridges, and a small plastic bag, inside which were nine more shotgun cartridges.
“When the sawn-off shotgun was examined by forensic scientists for DNA, they examined a number of different areas.
“On the safety catch and the break-open lever, they found mixed DNA with a clear major profile that could be identified within it. It matched Michael Dixon’s DNA profile.
“The probability of the profile having come from someone other than and unrelated to Dixon was in the region of one in a billion.”
The jury was told just after 6.30pm, Dixon drove past Mr Brown’s street and back to Cramlington where he met a man called Lee Green.
At 8pm they drove back to Mr Brown’s street, with Dixon lying in the passenger seat which was “heavily reclined to avoid being seen”.
Lee Green and Dixon then drove back to Ridley Street where Dixon was arrested.
Mr Denison said: “On October 13 2016, following discussions between prosecution and defence, the prosecution agreed to add a count of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.”
Dixon, along with Beckwith and Wayne Peel, pleaded guilty to this. Anthony Peel pleaded guilty to possessing two prohibited firearms, which were two sawn-off shotguns.
Mr Denison said the court in the Operation Tobago case heard the intention was to “terrify and
intimidate” Mr Brown.
In mitigation, it was said he “accepted playing a significant role in this conspiracy”.
His barrister said at the time he was “living an itinerant lifestyle” and was “at an extremely low ebb”.
In his sentencing remarks the judge said: “Each of you was originally charged with conspiracy to murder with an alternative charge of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.
“Had you been convicted of this the sentence you would be facing today would have been well in excess of the sentence I will impose.”
The jury also heard that police investigated whether the sawn-off shotgun that Dixon was about to use on August 24, 2015 - exhibit MAN/1 - could have been the same sawn-off shotgun used in the Tup Tup shooting.
The police had exhibit PD/1 - the shotgun cartridge wadding seized from the scene at Tup Tup - for comparison.
Mr Denison said the opinion of the scientist who did the comparison is that there were “limited areas of consistency but insufficient for a conclusive association”.
“Therefore it is not possible to determine whether or not the wadding exhibit PD/1 was discharged from the gun MAN/1, although that possibility cannot be excluded.”
Sayers, 54, and Dixon, 50, are on trial accused of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to possess a firearm. Russell Sturman, 26, is accused of assisting an offender. Sayers and a fourth defendant Michael McDougall, 50, are also charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
The defendants deny all the charges against them.
The trial continues.