A teenage murderer was the intended target of a gangland shooting foiled by detectives.
James Foy was one of two men convicted of gunning down Michael Rainsford in Litherland last April.
Months earlier the thug was himself the subject of a gun plot sparked by claims he and an associate had fired at a rival’s dad, the ECHO can now reveal.
The conspiracy, planned from behind bars, was part of a violent tit-for-tat struggle waged on the streets of Bootle, Seaforth, and Litherland.
It was that feud that formed the backdrop to the murder of Mr Rainsford.
This week a jury found James Foy and his older brother Michael Foy guilty of that attack, described as an act of "supposed retribution", after bricks were hurled at their Seaforth home.
Tragically, Liverpool Crown Court heard their 20-year-old victim in fact played no role in the incident that led to his death.
Nor was he considered a figure of any concern to the police teams monitoring the feuding gangs of South Sefton, a scene the Foys were submerged in.
Mr Rainsford's Harrington Road home did lie within the heart of what is considered to be the turf of the Kirkstone Riot Squad, aka the KRS, however.
And it was that gang’s violent dispute with the Linacre Young Guns - the gang the Foys were linked to - that prompted the brothers to turn their attention to Litherland after their home was bricked.
Following the lifting of legal restrictions, the ECHO can reveal how that feud led to reckless violence that almost claimed lives long before Mr Rainsford was shot.
A court case last year detailed how, six months before he was involved in the shooting of Mr Rainsford, James Foy was the intended victim of a plot orchestrated from prison and supported by a thug linked to the KRS.
The carnage began with the shooting of Foy's associate Lewis Gubb on the night of September 21, 2019.
Armed police were scrambled to Markfield Road, Bootle, after shots were heard ringing out at 9.10pm.
An eyewitness walking her dog said they came from a van travelling along Stanley Road, near its junction with Malvern Road.
CCTV captured a young male on a bike who the witness saw get up from the ground.
She told police: "He was against the side of the snooker hall. I heard him saying 'aargh, aargh' as though he was hurt. He was hobbling on one leg, trying to get his bike up off the floor."
The woman gave a description of the male, which matched that of Gubb, but the teen refused to assist police - claiming he was "no victim".
Judge Garrett Byrne has since concluded Gubb was indeed the victim of that attack.
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The other bullet fired from the van travelled the full length of Malvern Road - 120 metres - before hitting a TV in the living room of a pensioner’s home on Markfield Road, narrowly missing him.
Those shots were fired by Darren Russell from the van of Amazon delivery driver Simeon Pike using a gun supplied by KRS-linked Thomas Jennings.
Russell was then arrested in Bootle in connection with dangerous driving allegations in Stoke.
Yet while being detained he appeared to raise the shooting he was linked to, asking officers whether Gubb had gone to hospital.
The 23-year-old later claimed police said Gubb's name and were trying to 'stitch him up'.
While on remand in Dovegate Prison in Staffordshire, he called his girlfriend Jasmine Bech on October 7.
Despite stressing the call would be monitored, he then entered into an extraordinary conversation after Bech informed him his dad had been shot at twice - supposedly by Linacre Young Gun members.
She claimed Gubb and James Foy were behind the attack though neither have faced prosecution in relation to that allegation.
In response, Russell told her to contact a Merseyside gun thug with a reputation for carrying out shootings for a "big favour", adding: "One of them are gonna drop."
Despite Bech's protestations, she tried to contact the man, only to learn he was also in jail.
Ten days after the prison call, police raided a home in Minto Close, Kensington, and found a loaded gun hidden in a first aid bag on a wardrobe.
This bore Jennings' DNA.
Tests allowed detectives to establish the gun was the same one used to shoot Gubb, placing Jennings as Russell’s armourer that night.
Forensic examinations also led to the discovery of Russell’s DNA on the 9mm self-loading pistol.
Jennings, of no fixed address, but from Walton, admitted transferring a prohibited weapon.
Russell, of no fixed address, and Pike, of Singleton Drive, Prescot, admitted possessing the gun with intent to endanger life, while Pike also admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
Russell also admitted encouraging or assisting offences.
Bech, 20 and of Eltham Avenue, Litherland, faced the same charge, but prosecutors agreed to drop the allegation following the three men's guilty pleas and it was left to lie on the file.
At Russell and Pike's sentencing hearing in December, Judge Byrne said the drive-by was part of a "tit for tat feud between rival gangs".
He said: "It could so easily have resulted in the serious injury or death of at least one man."
The judge said Russell shot Gubb in the leg before firing a second bullet that travelled "at chest height" and hit the TV, which the OAP was sitting directly opposite.
He said: "Had the bullet not struck the back of the television set, he could have been very seriously injured or even killed."
Judge Byrne said Russell encouraged his girlfriend to arrange a "revenge attack", which would have been a wounding with intent against Gubb and or James Foy, but she could not make contact with the male, "despite her best efforts".
He said Jennings, 26, played a "vital" role as the gang's "armourer" and jailed him for seven years and eight months.
Russell was described as the "primary mover" and a dangerous offender.
He was jailed for 20 years, with an extended four years on licence and must serve at least two thirds of his sentence - more than 13 years - before he is eligible for parole.
The judge said Pike did not fire the gun, but was fully aware of Russell's intentions, as he jailed the 25-year-old for 12 years.
James Foy, 19, and Michael Foy, 22, both of Rossini Street, will be sentenced for the murder of Mr Rainsford on March 12.
