Two men jailed following gang dispute involving petrol bombs and weapons
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Two men have been jailed after a dispute between rival organised crime gangs from South Durham turned into violence and destruction.
Taylor Ford and Josh Wilson took part in a series of counterblow attacks in March last year, involving the use of petrol bombs and weapons.
The pair, both 20, travelled in a stolen vehicle on March 5 and threw a lit petrol bomb at the front living room window at a house in St Helens Auckland before discharging a shotgun at the front door.
On March 11, they used another stolen vehicle and threw a petrol bomb at the front door of a house in Shildon and then discharged a shotgun and a Skorpion machine gun which resulted in damage throughout the property.
In a third attack, Wilson threw another petrol bomb and also fired a 9mm pistol at a house in Darlington on March 17 causing damage to the premises.
Luckily, nobody was injured in any of the three incidents.
Detectives launched an investigation and with the help of CCTV and forensic evidence they quickly identified Ford and Wilson, both from Stockton, as their main suspects.
They were arrested following a series of raids to put an end to the violence and although they denied their involvement the pair were later charged with three counts of conspiracy to possess a firearm, two counts of conspiracy to possess ammunition and one count of conspiracy to commit arson.
Ford and Wilson were found guilty during a trial at Teesside Crown Court in March this year and today they were each sentenced to 14 years in prison and four years on extended licence.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “This criminal pair had clear intentions to harm and increase their criminal status through violence and intimidation, but we worked swiftly to apprehend them and take them off the streets for a long time.
“This level of violence will not be tolerated in County Durham, and we will remain relentless in our pursuit to continue to target these criminal enterprises.
“Today’s sentencing should be a lesson to others involved in violence and those glamorising gang culture that we will be relentless in the way we detect and disrupt similar networks.”
Anyone with information on potential criminal activity in their area should call us on 101 or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 08000555111.