Jailed for 15 years for part in Wolverhampton city centre gun battle

The front window of a black Peugeot 206 was shattered by a shotgun blast, a silver Ford Focus was hit by a bullet from an automatic revolver and a stray bullet struck a fence when shots were exchanged in St James Street, Horseley Fields, near to the Empire Lounge nightclub.

The shocking scenes unfolded just a stones throw away from the city centre and led to a sawn-off shotgun and live ammunition being dumped in the car park of Jennings Funeral Directors.

Senior police officers have described the incident as an 'extreme example' of gun crime rarely seen on the UK's streets.

Aaron Brown, aged 31, has now started a 15-year prison sentence after a jury found him guilty of taking part in the battle.

Brown, of Julian Close, Deansfield, was said to have been a passenger in the Ford Focus when a sawn-off shotgun was fired at the Peugeot at around 4am on October 28 last year.

No motive for the shootings was revealed during an eight-day trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, although a judge said he suspected the incident may relate to a 'turf war'.

Detective Inspector Warren Hines, of West Midlands Police, said shootings are thankfully a rare occurrence. "Most people realise it is completely unacceptable to carry a gun, let alone discharge one in a public place," he said.

"These days shootings don't happen very often. Although the gun laws are tight, in this instance the perpetrator appears to have got hold of a shotgun. This was clearly an extreme example of gun crime. It is good news to get another deadly weapon off the street."

The shootings happened just a few hundred metres away from where police were dealing with another matter in nearby Walsall Street.

After the shootings police pursued the Peugeot to nearby Qualcast Road where a man – who the prosecution alleged was likely to have fired the shots at the Ford Focus – got out and escaped. He has never been traced.

Fragments of shotgun fire and a bullet case were found in the Peugeot, which contained three passengers – including Brown's former partner Candace Samuels - when police officers reached it.

The court was told Brown sent her a text message two hours after the incident which read: "All I can say is keep playing with fire and you will get burned."

The jury also heard that a short time after the shooting a silver Ford Focus was seen by a witness driving onto the car park of Jennings Funeral Directors on St James Street.

A man, who the prosecution alleged was Brown, was seen to exit the car and dump a sports bag at the far end of the car park. It was later found to contain a Rottweil Super Sport shotgun and three live rounds of ammunition. One of the gun's barrels had been discharged while the other contained a live cartridge.

Brown was insured to drive the Focus, which was found parked in a street in Parkfields 16 hours later after he had reported it as stolen, the court was told.

The car had gunshot damage and a bullet was recovered from inside the driver's door panel.

Brown was arrested in Renton Road, Oxley, at 6.40am on October 30 last year. The keys to the Focus and the phone from which the text message was sent were in the pocket of a jacket displaying his DNA that was also discovered at the premises.

Police also found 23.8g of cocaine and £500 in cash during the raid.

Prosecutor Nicholas Tatlow told the court: "There is no direct evidence to say the defendant fired the shotgun but after viewing all the evidence the jury can be satisfied it was him."

The reasons behind the shooting was not revealed during the trial, although Judge Amjad Nawaz said he suspected the incident could be connected to a 'turf war'.

He added: "I find it hard to accept this happened only as a consequence of the social setting. It may be there was more to this than what lay behind the relationship between Brown and Samuels."

The court heard that Brown had taken steps to move away from his lifestyle and had gained a place on a university course prior to his arrest.

Brown, of Julian Close, Deansfield, had 11 previous convictions for 34 separate offences, including one for carrying a firearm and ammunition in a public place in 2003.