Three men have been jailed following a shooting of a rival drug dealer in Bolton.
In November last year, Jon Robinson was waiting to meet Ismail Abdullahi, 22, Sabir Abdulkadir, 21, and Abdul Malik Said, 21, on a road in Halliwell.
He was armed with a hammer and a knife, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
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However, as the three men turned up in a blue BMW, bought three days earlier, a violent fracas erupted.
Abdullkadir left the car with a sawed-off double-barrelled shotgun, which was less than 60 centimetres in length and hidden in a plastic bag, and aimed it at Robinson.
The flash of the gun was caught on CCTV.
After the near-miss, Robinson started smashing up the BMW using the hammer, before one of the three men shouted: “Blast him, f****ing blast him”.
The shotgun was fired again and Robinson was left with multiple metal pellets stuck in his back and arm.
The three men have now been jailed for a total of 26 years, with Robinson jailed for two years for his part in the violence.
Shooting followed 'turf war'
Prosecuting, Geoff Whelan said on November 4, a blue BMW was bought from Kingstanding Car Sales in Birmingham for £5,500 by Abdulkadir, Abdullahi and another man.
The three defendants were said to be involved in drug dealing and had come into a ‘disagreement’ with Robinson, described as a ‘turf war’.
Robinson, however, has failed to provide any evidence as to what the nature of the disagreement was about, the court heard.
At midnight on November 7, there were a number of calls between Robinson and a known drug supplier in Bolton, before he was later contacted by Abdullahi.
Following an extensive investigation, officers found CCTV showing the incident.
“At 1.09am, Robinson was seen wearing a grey hooded top shortly before a BMW arrived on Glenthorne Road,” Mr Whelan said.
“There were two calls between Robinson and Said which lasted three minutes and four seconds and Robinson was armed with a hammer and a knife in each hand.
“Then the three defendants arrived in the BMW and got out. Abdulkadir had a carrier bag containing a shotgun in his hand.
“As he approached Robinson there was a standoff where they confronted each other, Abdulkadir pointed the gun at Robinson who began to run away and was then chased by Abdulkadir and Said.
“A flash is seen before Abdulkadir goes to the BMW and reloads.
“Robinson then went over to the car and began causing damage to the BMW using the hammer.
“From the audio, one of the defendants can be heard saying: “blast him, f****ing blast him”, shortly before the gun is fired a second time.”
The police were called to reports of gunshots and the three made off, after Abdulkadir hid the shotgun on a side street.
A taxi later picked him and Abdullahi up and they went back to collect the weapon.
Drugs, knife and gun cartridges found
Officers who attended the scene recovered the BMW along with two shot gun cartridges and a knife, and inside the car a quantity of class A drugs was discovered.
Arrest warrants were executed, and Said was also found with a large amount of cash and class A drugs.
He was previously sentenced to three years imprisonment on June 8 2021 after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin.
Abdulkadir was said to have some previous unrelated convictions; Said had previous convictions for drug supply and robbery; and Abdullahi had no previous convictions.
Mitigating for Abdulkadir, Mark Kellet said his client was a young man with previous convictions which were from a ‘vastly different school of offending’.
“This was vastly out of character,” he said.
“He will be in custody for an extremely long time.”
Defence counsel Oliver Jarvis said his client, Abdullahi, felt ‘out of his depth’ when he became involved.
“He came to this country at the age of 14 as a refugee from Somalia and had issues with his language,” he said.
“He didn’t get any GCSEs because of playing catch up but went onto college to study an NVQ - this has been a severe wake up call.”
Addressing the court from the dock, Said said: “I didn’t know there was a possession of a firearm in the vehicle.
“Things got out of hand and people were just running around and after that it got out of hand - I don’t wish to do this again.”
Sentencing them, Judge John Potter said: “I am sure this was a plan to use the firearm in a public place in a way to intimidate and threaten a rival criminal in which each of you engaged in.
“In any view, the use of a firearm in such a blatant and wholly dangerous way merits an immediate custodial sentence.”
Robinson, of Louisa Street, was sentenced at an earlier hearing to two years imprisonment for offences of possession of an offensive weapon and a knife, and affray.
On the day of their trial, Abdulkadir, of Rusholme, pleaded guilty to offences of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and affray; and Abdullahi, of Bolton, and Said, of no fixed abode, both pleaded guilty to offences of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and affray.
Abdulkadir, of Rawcliffe Street, was jailed for 14 years and four months; Abdullahi, of Chetwood Drive, was jailed for five years and ten months; and Said, of no fixed abode, was jailed for six years and three months.
Detective Constable Ella Winters, of GMP's Operation Challenger, said: "These men are ruthless and selfish individuals who are willing to hurt others without thinking of the consequences.
"Brandishing weapons in the street is completely unacceptable and could have resulted in innocent passersby being seriously hurt as a result.
Detective Sergeant Paul Quinn, of Operation Challenger, said "I would like to recognise the work of the Challenger Team in today's results. The officers involved have shown incredible professionalism, drive and attention to detail, leaving no stone unturned as they worked with commitment and determination to identify and imprison this Organised Crime Group.
"As part of this investigation the team executed numerous warrants and recovered a quantity of class A drugs worth around £40,000 and substantial amounts of cash as well as recovering the firearm involved in this incident and ensuring it is taken off of the streets.
"I hope this time in prison gives them the time they need to reflect on their depraved actions."
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