A former member of a dangerous Liverpool drug gang recently walked free from court after he crashed a motorbike into a woman's car.
Shaun Byrne, 29, who was once a member of the Croxteth Young Guns ( CYG), was involved in a serious crash on April 2 this year.
Byrne ran a red light and then smashed a high powered motorbike into the victim's car.
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Byrne admitted dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence and was handed an eight month prison sentence suspended for 12 months.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how Byrne was jailed for six years in 2013 for conspiring to supply Class A and B drugs during his time as a member of a gang in Croxteth.
Byrne was a junior member of the Croxteth Young Guns and was used only to sell drugs.
The judge, Recorder Daniel Prowse, told the court how Byrne had been involved in "organised crime."
Recorder Prowse said: "Your last offence was an extremely serious offence of drug supply, plainly with an organised crime background."
The Croxteth Young Guns
Gang bosses Anthony Jewell, Mark Thomas and Barry Burke filled a void in the Croxteth area after the previous generation of gang members were jailed following the death of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones.
The new crime group, known as the Croxteth Young Guns ( CYG) operated across a broad swathe of territory from Croxteth towards the borders of Fazakerley and Kirkby.
Heavily armed and volatile, the gang's main purpose appeared to have been to perpetuate the violent conflict with rivals from Norris Green which had led to the tragic death of innocent schoolboy Rhys Jones in 2007.
The massive police response to that fatal shooting smashed the original Croxteth Crew gang which had been led by Sean Mercer.
Police and other agencies joined forces to disrupt other criminals operating across Croxteth and Norris Green in the aftermath of Rhys' murder.
Police believed Jewell began controlling the CYG from his prison cell, using a mobile phone to order attacks on rivals from Norris Green and other enemies across the city.
Gang members shot rivals and used Lucozade bottles filled with petrol to torch family homes.
Police linked the gang to six shootings and two further incidents when guns failed to fire.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how Josh Keating, a former associate of the gang, was kneecapped in a revenge attack on March 13 2011.
In another terrifying incident taxi driver Joel Garrity left his home on the evening of October 21 2011 when he was confronted by a gunman in the street.
The figure, who was wearing a hat, raised the gun and pulled the trigger but the weapon failed to fire. Garrity then struggled with the gunman who managed to run off.
The CYG was also responsible for a string of fire bombings across the city.
One of the gang's more devastating attacks took place at Alma Close in Fazakerley on the night of November 4 2011.
On the night of the attack a young mum was asleep with her daughter. A friend had agreed to stay over with them.
The house was consumed by flames and the two women had to climb out of the bedroom onto a porch roof and hand the young child down to neighbours who came to the rescue.
The house was gutted by the firebomb and the two women and child were lucky to have escaped with their lives.
The address had been linked to an enemy of the CYG , but the property had been sub-let to an innocent family who were not involved in crime.
Sinister connections
The police surveillance operation into the CYG was linked to a separate investigation into an organised crime group based in the Southport area codenamed Operation Redstart.
Paul Bennett, who worked for Liverpool crime boss Peter Clarke, was arrested by police on the evening of April 25 2012 .
Bennett was caught with 10kg of cocaine in the back of his van and police later found an arsenal of heavy weapons in his garage.
The following morning Matrix, the force's elite anti-gang unit , launched a wave of raids across Croxteth and Kirkby when they targeted the CYG and their associates.
It later emerged that Longfellow Close in Kirkby was a crucial hub where associates of drug boss Peter Clarke met with the CYG.
Clarke later received a 16 year prison sentence for gun and drug offences and the crime group he controlled was jailed for over 100 years during a hearing at Preston Crown Court.
Sentencing
The principal members of the CYG were jailed after a long trial at Liverpool Crown Court in April 2013.
Anthony Jewell, 23, of Walmersley Road, Bury, who denied denied arson, firearm conspiracies and conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was jailed for 20 years, plus five years on licence.
Mark Thomas, 19, of Stonedale Crescent, Croxteth was detained for 16 years with four years extended on licence for the same conspiracy charges.
Ryan Holden, 20, from Fazakerley, was also sentenced to 13 years detention with three years extended on licence for same four counts.
Barry Burke, 19, also of Stonedale Crescent was detained for 12 years with four years extended on licence for conspiracy to possess firearms, conspiracy to commit arson and conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Kyle Smith-Milson, 19, of Longmoor Lane, Fazakerley was detained for 12 years with three years extended on licence for conspiracy to possess firearms and to commit arson.
Sam Hughes, 20, of Exford Road, Croxteth, was detained for 12 years with three years extended on licence for conspiracy charges relating to firearms, arson and supplying class B drugs.
Shaun Byrne, 20, of Stonedale Crescent, was sentenced to six years detention for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Openshaw said: “Despite their denials the defendants are members of the criminal gang known to themselves as the Croxteth Young Guns. They are known and feared by others as the Croxteth Crew.
“It seems to me they have no stake in society excepting their membership of the gang. None of them has ever done a day’s honest work in their lives or aspired to do so. Their families are dysfunctional. Each left school without skills.
“Their days were spent posturing outside Mossway shops dealing drugs. It is as if they belong to some sort of outlaw tribe which has rejected all of society’s moral standards and conventions. Their minds are spent towards feuding and prosecuting vendettas against former associates.
“In this case drug dealing was not used as an end in itself but funding the gang’s principal activity of feuding.”
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