The ECHO has learned of credible claims that a handgrenade which was left outside a family home in Warrington was made in Liverpool.
The bomb squad was deployed and residents were evacuated after police found a grenade on the drive of a house in Cleveland Road, Warrington on February 24 2018.
An anonymous 999 call had claimed a grenade had been left under a Vauxhall Insignia parked in front of the house.
Police responded to the call and found the device next to a car. The discovery led to a major police incident as the couple who lived in the house and their four children, who had been in bed, we evacuated. The bomb squad was called to the scene and moved the grenade to wasteland where it was destroyed in a controlled explosion.
Convicted murderer William 'Billy' Jones was jailed for life after his DNA was found on the device. Liverpool Crown court heard that although the device was improvised, it could have killed.
A credible criminal source has now told the ECHO that the device was 'made in Liverpool.' Cheshire police could not say definitively where the grenade was made.
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The grenade was left outside the home at around 11.30pm, when the family heard a strange noise outside but assumed it was just a cat. The anonymous call to the emergence services was not made until 12.30am, and the court heard that 'anything could have happened' between 11.30 and 12.30.
Judge Brian Cummings said: "Anything could have happened. It might have been different if they had gone out to inspect. This was reckless in the extreme. Someone could have been maimed or killed.
"This was not just a quantity of explosive substance stored in a shed. It was deployed outside a home. The canister would have made for a more powerful explosion increasing its lethality. The grenade would have the same affect as a pipe bomb, throwing out shrapnel."
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Barrister Michael Scholes, defending, argued that the anonymous phone call was proof that the plot was to cause fear rather than to actually let the bomb off. But Judge Cummings said that the plot was highly reckless.
Jones, from Warrington, was arrested after police found his DNA on the device. The court heard that the bomb was left outside the home as part of a fall-out between 'rival factions' in Warrington. Jones was said to have been linked to a faction controlled by Leon Cullen. Cullen, from Warrington, is wanted by police in relation to drug offences. There are reports that he is in Spain.
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Judge Cummings said: "Your client (Jones) mixed in circles linked to Leon Cullen. It is not as though your client was not linked to this. He was a close associate of people who grew up with Leon Cullen."
Jones was jailed in for life in 2006 after he beat a 22-year-old man to death in Warrington.
The ECHO recently revealed how Jones was released from prison months after he terrorised a centre for disabled children. Barrister Simon Mills, prosecuting, said: "People at the centre became fearful. In one of the calls he said he was going to send someone to the person's house.
He said they would have no house left. He said he would make her watch someone smashing her relative's jaw in."
Jones was released on licence in October 2017, but then became involved in a plot to plant a grenade outside a family home within months of his release.
Jones, 29, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess explosives for unlawful purpose after a month-long trial at Liverpool Crown court. He was jailed for life, with a minimum term of six years.
Detectives are still appealing for information on the whereabouts of Leon Cullen who remains wanted by police in relation to Operation Samurai. Anyone who has information can call Crimestoppers in strict confidence on 0800 555 111. A substantial reward remains available if information given directly leads to his arrest.
DCI Evans added: “Protecting our communities from serious and organised crime is paramount and we need the public’s support in providing us with information to disrupt this criminality.
“If you do not feel comfortable speaking to a police officer then you can pass information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
