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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Beth Abbit & Hannah Mackenzie Wood

Moment dad is gunned down in street as little girls play in princess dresses

Just seconds after a dad was gunned down in the street, two little girls wearing princess dresses could be seen running in away from the shocking scene.

Luke Graham was murdered in broad daylight on June 13, 2018 in Ashton-under-Lyne, on the same street where two children had been playing.

The terrifying incident was captured on CCTV, showing the terrified youngsters escaping rushing in the opposite direction of brutal shooting.

Father-of-two Graham, 31, took a bullet to the shoulder and died instantly as he sat in a VW Caddy van during a drugs turf war, Manchester Evening News reports.

It is one of the few incidences where a gangland assault has crossed over into civilian life.

The gunman caught on CCTV shooting into the van. (BBC/GMP)

Graham, known as ‘Tank’, had been lured there believing he was carrying out a drug deal.

But when three men in black balaclavas arrived on the street at around 4.50pm, he was fatally wounded.

His associate was shot in the leg but managed to run away.

The following year, - but one suspect remains at large.

Callum Halpin , 27, is wanted by Greater Manchester Police in connection with the murder of Graham and the attempted murder of Anton Verigotta.

Halpin is 6ft, of fair complexion, a gym user with an athletic build, and possibly a lazy eye.

He has links to Spain and Turkey but his last known address was Beede Street, in Openshaw.

Graham was a small-time drug dealer not long out of prison who was selling drugs in the area, undercutting the prices of the more established gangs on the patch.

Callum Halpin, wanted by the NCA in connection with the murder of Luke "Tank" Graham. (MEN)

It sparked a turf war which had deadly consequences.

Detective Chief Inspector Liz Hopkinson that Graham and his associate had “stepped on the toes” of an organised crime group.

"They were not an organised crime group - really they were an unknown quantity,” she said.

“The first we knew about it was when the murder occurred."

Within hours police had the shooter Wade Cox's name and a wanted appeal was circulated across Greater Manchester.

Cox is currently serving a life sentence for the murder, .

Four other men were also jailed for their role in the brutal killing.

But Halpin is still wanted in connection with the attack.

CCTV footage showing Graham’s shooting was first shown in the BBC documentary The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime.

Luke Graham, known as Tank, was killed on June 13, 2018. (Unknown copyright)

It shows the moment the gunman began shooting at Graham and his business partner Anton Verigotta.

CCTV footage shows Mr Verigotta leaving the van, whilst Mr Graham remains in the passenger seat, waiting for his partner to return.

In broad daylight, a gunman wearing all black, with his face covered by a balaclava, comes out of the address and shoots inside the vehicle where Mr Graham is sitting.

The gunman then crosses the street as he fires at Mr Verigotta, before returning to the van and firing a shot into the driver’s side.

Wade Cox was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years for the murder. (GMP)

He then goes back round the passenger side, by which time Luke Graham can be seen hanging out of the vehicle - fatally wounded.

Three men dressed all in black can then be seen getting into an Audi A4.

DCI Hopkinson says the gunman fired at least five shots, grazing Anton Verigotta's leg and killing Luke Graham almost instantly.

Police believe Callum Halpin was involved in the shooting.

They suspect that up to 10 members of an organised crime group worked together to mask the movements of the shooters.

Jack West, Connor Cornforth, and Ben Dodd were convicted of assisting an offender.

West was jailed for 42 months, Cornforth received 37 months; and Dodd was sentenced to 30 months.

Another man, Jordan Atkinson, of Stamford Drive, Stalybridge, was found guilty of encouraging or assisting an indictable offence and was jailed for eight years.

Wade Cox was convicted of murder and GBH with intent and jailed for a minimum of 36 years.

Two young girls were playing nearby at the time of the shooting. (BBC/GMP)

Callum Halpin fled the UK and remains wanted.

DCI Hopkinson previously described the murder as one of the few times gang violence 'creeps over' into the civilian life.

She said: "Very, very rarely does this kind of thing happen like this. So much organised crime occurs in the shadows away from most civilian life.

"They don't want to crossover into our lives, and certainly don't want to crossover into mine, because that gets attention.

"2018 was a very hot summer. There were little girls running around playing in their princess dresses.

"It's just absolutely awful that there were children playing in the street while this happened.

"It was just one of those incidents which did creep over into that civilian side.”

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