Gun accused drove car, says ex

SHOOTING TRIAL CLAIM BY FORMER GIRLFRIEND

A FORMER girlfriend of one of the men accused of a shooting plot claimed he told her he was driving a car from which a gun was fired.

Sean Ree is accused of being part of a gang feud in which houses were shot at in Newcastle in January last year.

His ex, Melissa Buffham, told police he had confessed to being involved in one of the shootings and told her he was the driver and didn’t pull the trigger, the court heard. Miss Buffham also alleged Ree had told her he smashed up rival Paul Scott’s cafe on the West Road in the months before things are said to have escalated to the point of gunfire.

Ree and five other men are standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court accused of firearms offences following the shooting of windows of homes in Brunswick and Benwell.

In a video recorded interview with police, which was played to the court, Miss Buffham said: “He told me he didn’t shoot, he just drove the car. He also told me a gun is in the River Tyne.”

Asked how she knew, Miss Buffham said: “I knew he was wanted.

“I wanted to know what he was wanted for and he sat down and explained.”

She added: “The pub, the Coach and Horses, on the Coast Road, in Wallsend, that has got CCTV of him getting in and out of the car, getting picked up and dropped off. And there should be footage on that day with him getting in and out of the car with the other people.”

Miss Buffham said she has never seen guns or ammunition but added: “He is capable and could get guns if he wants.”

She continued: “I don’t think it’s fair he is going to get away with it to be honest.

“It’s not fair everyone else is being punished and he just gets away with it.”

She went on to say: “He said he got rid of the gun in the Tyne. I’m sure he mentioned about having another gun buried somewhere as well and that you will never find it. I think it was a shotgun.” Asked if she knew what the shooting was about, she replied: “He had a ruck with somebody called Paul, he had a lot of trouble with him.

“That’s the one whose shop he had smashed up and stuff.”

Ree, 25, of Coach Road, Wallsend, denies conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life in relation to the Brunswick shooting, but has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

He denies criminal damage in relation to an attack on Cafe West on October 13.

The trial continues.