'˜It's done me a lot of good' '“ Drug war shooting victim speaks out after gang jailed

A LIFELONG drug addict shot in the face in a gang turf war has said being attacked has reformed him, saying: '˜I feel so great.'
Jamie Sibley has said being shot has reformed himJamie Sibley has said being shot has reformed him
Jamie Sibley has said being shot has reformed him

Jamie Sibley, 35, was blasted in the head with a shotgun by a gang who were this week jailed for 95 years for their part in the attack in Crookhorn.

But now Sibley – backed by his mum and sister – says while the incident ‘destroyed’ his old life – he is now set to move into a new home, has been clean of drugs for six months and has rekindled his relationship with his family.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speaking to The News, Jamie said: ‘I’m clean now, I’m getting into activities, I’m getting out, I’m not hanging around with the wrong people.

‘I’ve got things like that in my head – I’m in a different head space.

‘Before all that mattered to me was drugs, I just wanted a hit.

‘I thought of nothing else but now I’ve got my own flat, there’s a hell of a lot of good things – my whole lifestyle.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘I feel so great, I feel absolutely awesome in my head space.’

Jamie was shot outside a block of flats in Athena Avenue in February 2017, back when he was a drug runner.

His mum Patricia Fulton, 55, of Wecock Farm, visited him every day as he lay in a coma at Southampton General Hospital.

Due to his drug addiction from the age of 15 she had all but disowned him – unable to cope with the problems.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But now after helping him gradually put his life back together, she said: ‘He’s a different person now.

‘He doesn’t touch drugs, he’s dead against it – it’s absolutely changed his life.

‘It’s scarred his face, he’s a bit worried now about where he goes.

‘But we’re a lot closer. As a family we’ve all supported him and we love him – we’re glad he’s got justice.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘We’d wiped our hands of him – we couldn’t do no more – we’d tried and tried to get him off the drugs but it didn’t happen. Now he’s changed and we’re closer as a family.

‘He’s still got bullets in his brain, he’s still suffering – he’ll always suffer.’

Winchester Crown Court heard how Jamie was lured out of the flats by a woman as three men from a rival gang lay in wait and ambushed him.

He needed major reconstructive surgery on his face and was in a coma for six weeks.

‘We thought he was going to die,’ his mum added.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

His sister Mellissa Shaw, 30, said: ‘The whole family is just happy about the sentence.

‘It sends a message that you can’t go around thinking you can shoot someone in the face and affect their whole life.

‘Jamie is doing better than he was – he’s regained his life as much as he can.’

On Wednesday Jordan Ray Smith, 22, of Lysander Gardens, Surbiton, London, was sentenced to 31 years for attempted murder. Fellow ‘Big G’ gang members Ricardo Livingston-Wright, 32, of Selsfield Drive, Brighton, and Jordan Anthony Perry, 27, of Acacia Road, Mitcham, Surrey, were both sentenced to 30 years for attempted murder.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sara Hodgkinson, 32, of Magpie Walk, Waterlooville, was sentenced to four years for assisting in the offence after she lured the victim outside before he was shot and left for dead.

Speaking after the sentences were handed down, Jamie said: ‘It’s a big thing off my chest – it’s been a long time coming. It’s been done well, the police have been absolutely great.’

He added: ‘I’ve got brain damage, I can’t talk properly sometimes.

‘I can’t hold on to these things properly – my hand is absolutely battered.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘I’ve got nine pellets left in my head, they really worry me and I get headaches all the time.

Jamie, a dad-of-one, has been spurred into changing his life.

He said: ‘Back then I thought “next time I get myself in a situation like that I’m dying”.’