Police fear gangs use dial-a-hitman service on rivals

SATURDAY, JULY 18

DETECTIVES investigating a gangland turf war fear hoodlums are using a “dial-a-hitman” racket to carry out contract killings.

They say assassins may be hired from hundreds of miles. It follows a series of attacks.

In one, a 28-year-old man was shot and seriously injured as he left a Bolton gym, while a woman’s £12,000 BMW was blown up by “hired hands” from London who threw a grenade into it. No one was hurt.

The getaway car was set alight and a garage in nearby Rochdale was also torched, destroying five cars during the two-week trail of destruction last July.

Tom Omona, 29, and Darren Holland, 54, both from Harrow, northwest London, were arrested over the grenade and arson attacks but the gunman and his red Vauxhall Mokka are still being hunted. Yesterday Omona was jailed for 11 and a half years. Holland was given nine years and nine months and fixer Luqman Hamid, 32, of Rochdale, was sentenced to five years at Bolton Crown Court.

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Clitherow, of Greater Manchester Police said: “These shocking incidents are believed to be connected to a dispute between local criminal gangs.

“We have not ruled out that the gunman was local but one line of inquiry is that he has no links to Greater Manchester and was hired.”

The pair travelled north to meet Hamid, 32, who gave them the explosive device.

Omana and Holland were jailed for conspiracy, and Hamid was jailed for assisting an offender and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

SATURDAY, JULY 18

FRIDAY, JULY 17