Jury told '˜friends thought drug runner shot in turf war '˜was dead'

FRIENDS of a drug runner who lost '˜half his face' in a shooting by a rival gang thought he was dead, a court heard.
Police officers at Athena Avenue. Picture: Malcolm WellsPolice officers at Athena Avenue. Picture: Malcolm Wells
Police officers at Athena Avenue. Picture: Malcolm Wells

Jamie Sibley, 35, was blasted in the head and face during the attack in Athena Avenue, Crookhorn, on February 13 last year after a gang war exploded.

Mr Sibley suffered multiple gunshot wounds including pellets lodging in his brain after he was lured outside a block of flats in Crookhorn at around 1am by an enemy network, the court heard.

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He was then left for dead in a pool of blood outside his flat following an ambush that he was ‘blissfully unaware’ of.

Jordan Perry, 27, of Acacia Road, Mitcham, Surrey, Jordan Smith, 22, of Lysander Gardens, Surbiton, London and Ricardo Livingston-Wright, 31, of Selsfield Road, Brighton, are on trial at Winchester Crown Court following the shooting.

They deny attempted murder, causing grievous bodily harm and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence.

Sara Hodgkinson, 32, of Magpie Walk, Waterlooville, is on trial for assisting an offence after she was alleged to have set up Mr Sibley, who worked as a runner for a network called Arron Tony – a rival gang to the male defendants’ Big G group.

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Prosecutor Adam Feest said Mr Sibley was duped into going outside to sell drugs by Hodgkinson.

‘[Mr Sibley] saw a man reach into his jacket. He thought it was a weapon but didn’t think it was a gun. He was getting ready for a fight,’ Mr Feest said.

Mr Sibley was with friend Richard Stanhope who, according to Mr Feest, ‘saw a flash before seeing his friend hit the floor after being shot with half his face blown off’.

Mr Stanhope then rushed to his girlfriend’s house and called 999. The court was played his call in which he said a man ‘came up and shot [Mr Sibley] from nowhere’ before pleading for help.

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Mr Feest said ‘friends thought [Mr Sibley] was dead’ and concluded that must have been the only intention when ‘taking a loaded shotgun and using it from so close’.

Residents heard loud bangs and a car was quickly seen speeding off.

Mr Feest said Perry, Smith and Livingston-Wright travelled down from London to claim the Crookhorn area after a turf war had erupted between the rival gangs.

The prosecutor said they admitted travelling to the area to address business matters but denied any knowledge of a shooting. They only spent around five minutes in the area before returning to London, he added.

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Livingston-Wright had sprinted across a busy road when police tried to arrest him days later.

Mr Feest said it ‘may be impossible to tell who pulled the trigger’, but all three were ‘involved in this criminal plan to take revenge’.

He said they ‘used Ms Hodgkinson to lure him out’.

(Proceeding)