Five jailed for 34 years after teenager shot in revenge attack

A TEENAGER was shot in the knee in a revenge attack after two gun-toting families clashed following a fall-out over a woman.

When Leon Haq was sent to prison, he trusted Kenneth Thompson to look after his girlfriend, Adele Bell, until he was released.

However, Thompson and Miss Bell grew close and ended up in a relationship, which contributed to illfeeling between the two men.

As tensions soared, Thompson punched head of the Tams family, Thomas Tams, and carried out a drive-by shooting on his daughter’s car. Leon Haq, along with Barry Lynn, Thomas Tams and his daughters, Kerry and Charlotte Tams then plotted to carry out revenge.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Haq and Lynn were driven to a location in the West End of Newcastle by Kerry Tams, where the two men got out and opened fire with a shotgun, hitting Thompson’s 18-year-old son, Kane Thompson, in the knee.

Now Haq, 39, of Eastbourne Avenue, Walker, Lynn, 40, of no fixed address, Thomas Tams, 60, of Union Quay, North Shields, Kerry Tams, 26, of Silvermere Drive, Ryton, Gateshead and Charlotte Tams, 20, of Hawthorn Walk, Newcastle, have been jailed for a total of more than 34 years.

Haq and Lynn pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent and wounding while Haq also admitted two counts of threats to kill – of Adele Bell and Thompson.

Head of the family, Thomas Tams, who killed his own brother in the 1990s and was jailed for three years for manslaughter, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, as were his daughters, Kerry and Charlotte.

Haq was jailed for 10 years, Lynn got nine years, Thomas Tams six and a half years, Kerry Tams six years and Charlotte Tams three years.

In the early hours of August 6 2019, Kenneth Thompson was in a car that drove onto Gloucester Way, Elswick, and fired at least five bullets at a car belonging to a different daughter of Thomas Tams.

Thompson previously pleaded guilty to offences in relation to the shooting of the Dacia Duster and was jailed for six years. The weapon he used and ammunition was found at the bottom of the River Tyne.

Matthew Donkin, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial of the Tams family and their associates: “A few hours after that shooting, Thompson’s son, 18-year-old Kane, was shot.

“It is the prosecution case that the shooting was planned by these defendants in retaliation for the shooting that his father had carried out at Gloucester Way.”

At 12.45am on August 6, Kerry Tams drove a car containing Haq and Lynn to a location off Elswick Road, reversed into the entrance of the Newcastle Bangladesh Centre car park, and parked up.

Mr Donkin said the two men headed towards Thompson’s home then returned around 90 seconds later before all three fled in the car at speed.

Mr Donkin added: “Put simply, a Tams’ family car was shot on August 6 by a member of the Thompson family and a few hours later a member of the Thompson family was shot in a plan hatched by members of the Tams family and their close associates.”

The police were not told of either shootings by those on the receiving end. Doctors told police Kane had been shot but he was unco-operative and was not a witness in the case. His injuries were not serious.

The court heard prosecutors could not say Kane was deliberately shot and Haq and Lynn were cleared of wounding with intent.