Pair cleared of some charges in club trial
Two men on trial following the shooting of three staff at a Black Country nightspot have been cleared of some of the charges.
Two men on trial following the shooting of three staff at a Black Country nightspot have been cleared of some of the charges.
A judge ordered the move after he ruled there was not enough evidence against them.
The Wolverhampton Crown Court jury were told to find Jordan McDonald, aged 18, and 21-year-old Smethwick man Dwayne Hare not guilty of four out of six charges. Two charges alleged possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life when the shooting happened at the Tropical Harmony club.
The others claimed possession of a prohibited firearm at the Bilston High Street venue in September last year.
There was no suggestion that either McDonald or Hare were one of the two unidentified gunmen seen on CCTV wounding club owner Derek Chambers, his brother Howard and Trinnett Dunckley, a member of the security staff.
Judge Robin Onions told the jury yesterday afternoon: "It is my view that the prosecution cannot prove that there is a case to answer on these matters. You are being asked to make an inference but before you can do that there has to be evidence.
"For the prosecution to succeed, they would have to prove that each of the defendants knew the gunmen had genuine loaded guns and were prepared to use them if the need arose.
"You would have to draw inference heaped upon inference and you cannot stretch the evidence far enough to link the defendants to the gunmen."
The judge told the jury to formally find the pair not guilty of the four charges. The trial continues in relation to further allegations.
McDonald, from Oldacare Drive, Handsworth, and Hare of Whitehouse Drive, Smethwick, both deny being in possession of a firearm or imitation firearm to cause fear of violence, and violent disorder at Tropical Harmony on the night of the shooting.
Hare is alleged to have pointed a gun at the neck of Howard Chambers during the fracas but insists it was a mobile phone.
He told the jury yesterday: "I have never owned or had a firearm in my possession." Hare also claimed to have only gone to the club with two other people and to have never spoken to McDonald until they met in the dock at the start of the court case.
The case continues today.
