Complex operation to catch gun feud gangs
Crime reporter WHEN a simmering feud between two rival gangs spilled into gun violence, it sparked an urgent and complex investigation to get the offenders, and their weapons, off the streets.
Six men are facing jail after being convicted of firearms offences following homes in Benwell and Brunswick being fired at in dramatic drive-by shootings just days apart.
And a further four men have already been jailed for possessing a sawn-off shotgun after being caught out in a dramatic police sting, which saw detectives swapping a weapon for a fake gun.
The gangs, who are believed to have begun a feud in the months before the shootings, were brought to justice following a complex investigation by Northumbria Police major crime detectives.
The probe, codenamed “Operation Eton” saw officers using a range of technological and traditional investigation tactics, from forensics and DNA to mobile phone analysis, to piece together the jigsaw of clues which would eventually link the offenders to each other, and the guns.
A jury at Newcastle Crown Court found all six guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.
They are Darren Appleby, 23, of no fixed addressc Jamie Moran, 28, of Whickham View, Newcastle; Kenny Moran, 27, of Caroline Cottages, Slatyfordv Michael Conroy, 36, of Heathfield Crescent, Cowgate; Bailey Wilson, 21, of no fixed abode; and Sean Ree, 25, of Henniker Point, Stratford, London.
Now, Det Chief Insp Paul Woods, who led the investigation, has lifted the lid on how they were snared.
He said: “Normal members of the pubic wouldn’t have access to firearms, and they are unlikely to be targeted by people with firearms.
“They don’t have the means to take part in this kind of activity. We see these people as part of an organised crime group and that’s why this required a significant police response.
“Their access to firearms and their willingness to use them makes them dangerous.
“The discharge of firearms is something that we just can’t tolerate. We don’t want it repeated.”
Operation Eton was launched in January 2018 after shots were fired at three houses in Benwell, Cowgate and Brunswick. The house in Cowgate was also hit by a petrol bomb.
The first incident, happened on January 4, at Drysdale Court, in Brunswick, then when there were two further shootings, on Deepdale Crescent in Cowgate and Oakfield Gardens in Benwell, on the night of January 8, it quickly became apparent that police had a major issue on their hands. Det Chief Insp Woods was put in charge the following day.
“By the time we became involved there had already been three firearms incidents,” he explained.
“I got the call on the morning of January 9 to go to Newcastle to take over. That’s the stage where it’s decided it needs an SIO (senior investigating officer) to look at it.
“It was clear at that call that this was going to be a large-scale operation. I started pulling a large team together to investigate these incidents, and the background to it.”
The case was complex from the start, Det Chief Insp Woods said.
Detectives were aware there were offenders at large who had access to guns and were willing to fire them at homes.
But they also knew that bringing a case against the culprits might not be straightforward.
“At that time there was multiple crime scenes and multiple houses,” said Det Chief Insp Woods. “It was about developing the intelligence to understand who was involved, and to make sure we prevent the further use of firearms.”
The team began looking into possible suspects and motives for the shootings, all the while with the sense of urgency associated with the fact that they were all still at large and potentially armed.
“We were reacting to a series of events,” Det Chief Insp Woods explained.
“It is so important to understand what has taken place. It’s about filling in the blanks. But at the same time we have got to deal with the fact that, at that stage, there’s outstanding firearms and outstanding offenders, so there is an urgency around that.
“At the same time we have multiple firearms crime scenes to deal with. We have got to do the forensics work, the house-to-house and the CCTV enquiries.
“It’s important that we get as much information about what’s gone on and gather as much evidence as possible.
“It’s all very labour intensive. And then if you are going to make arrests they all get risk assessed. It was obvious quite early on that we were looking at two rival gangs. We were looking for a number of people.”
Detectives quickly established that there had been a number of incidents of burglary and criminal damage involving some of the people they were looking