A dangerous gun thug who once stabbed a man for refusing to give him a cigarette smiled, laughed and waved to his mum as he was jailed over a spate of shocking crimes.
Dylan Johnston, 27, shouted "mum I'll ring you" after a judge handed an extended sentence of 27 years behind bars and a further four on licence at Liverpool Crown Court, meaning he must serve a minimum of 18 before he can apply to a Parole Board for early release.
Johnston, of no fixed abode but from the Ellesmere Port area, was brought down as part of investigation into the crimes of Kirkdale based 'Deli Mob' hitman Jonathan Gordon, 34, who sat beside him in the dock. Gordon personally carried out a successful acid attack, plotted two others which failed, and was linked to a spate of shootings - landing him with a life sentence.
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Johnston's mum, sitting in the public gallery of Courtroom 4:2, shouted "I love you son", as he and Gordon were led to the cells. The pair could be heard laughing as the dock officers escorted them out.
Judge David Aubrey, QC, sentencing, had told the men: "The offences for which you both fall to be sentenced are of the upmost gravity, some of them chilling in the extreme.
"You, Gordon, were the holder of the handle known as ValuedBridge, and between April 2019 and May 2020 you were plotting, planning and committing grave offences, some of which came to fruition, some of which did not. You were recruited by others to act as a hitman, an enforcer, you were prepared on one occasion, without any compassion whatsoever to inflict serious, long-lasting injury on your victim. You did so for pounds, shillings and pence."
Johnston was described by his barrister, Mike Bagley, as a "foot soldier" in a wave of violence orchestrated by Gordon between April 2019 and May 2020. The court heard Johnston was the gunman during an drive-by shooting in Reaper Close, Warrington, on March 20, 2020.
The court heard Gordon had recruited Johnston and provided the firearm, a Grand Power handgun, on instructions from an as yet unidentified gang boss using the EncroChat handle AceProspect. The victim, Dominic Jones, was in his bedroom and looked out of his window to see a man pointing a gun directly at him.
A number of shots were fired, shattering windows and leaving bullets embedded in a wall, but no injuries were recorded. Detectives later discovered that Johnston and Gordon called each other moments after the attack, and the bullets from the gun matched ones fired during a shooting involving Gordon on Wilburn Street, Walton.
Johnston was also convicted of conspiring to carry out an acid attack on a Nathan Simpson in Birtles Road, Warrington, on April 6, 2020 - which was thwarted at the last moment. Johnston was again recruited by Gordon, who also enlisted petty criminal Stephen Wissett to act as a driver.
Johnston and Wissett, also from Ellesmere Port, travelled to Kirkdale where they obtained a stolen Ford Fiesta car and drove to Warrington, picking up a container of acid from an unknown address on the way.
However, the crooks spotted CCTV near the victim's home and aborted their plan. That evening, Gordon and AceProspect communicated via their EncroChat phones and made plans to "double the dose" and "cook" Mr Simpson.
The following day Johnston and Wissett travelled back to Kirkdale, but Merseyside Police approached a stolen car they were inside along with Gordon. The three men fled without being arrested, but abandoned their plans to hurl acid at Mr Simpson for that day.
Messages intercepted from Gordon's EncroChat account revealed that he and AceProspect still intended to go through with their vicious plot. However, another terrifying incident on Birtles Road - the discovery of a live hand grenade outside Mr Simpson's home - led them to give it up due to the increased police attention on the address.
Johnston denied any wrong doing, but declined to give evidence during a trial at Liverpool Crown Court last month. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Speaking at his sentence hearing, Mr Bagley told the court his client had a tough upbringing and had educational difficulties, having been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. He attended a special school but struggled to engage. His life since school was characterised by homelessness and criminal activity - including a vicious wounding in 2012.
The court heard Johnston had approached a man in a park and asked for a cigarette. When the man refused Gordon stabbed him three times in the back, before bragging "I shanked him three times". That sentence landed him six years in a young offenders' institute.
Wissett, who refused to be sentenced at the same time as Gordon and Johnston, was brought into the dock after his accomplices were sent down. He was jailed for 12 years having pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit GBH.
