Gang member behind bars after series of shooting attacks

Sameer Khan was present when three of the attacks took place and police later found the 26-year-old had hidden the gun used in the shootings in his cellar.

Khan, of Highfield Road, in Alum Rock, Birmingham, had previously admitted a charge of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and was sentenced to 14 years and four months at Birmingham Crown Court this week.

The attacks took place between July 24 and July 28 last year and there had been four separate incidents when shots were fired at residential properties in the Saltley area.

The first took place shortly before 4am on July 24 when three shots were fired at a home near to where Khan lived on Highfield Road, with two going through the ground-floor living room window and one shot penetrating the internal dividing wall.

Officers recovered a spent .44 calibre bullet from the rear living room and also recovered another spent bullet which was on the floor to the rear of the internal ground floor bay window.

One shot was discharged into the first-floor bedroom window and a partial spent bullet recovered from the windowsill.

The same property on Highfield Road was then targeted again on July 25 at around 3am, when three to four shots were discharged into the premises through the ground-floor front window.

Shortly before 5am on July 27, two men were seen on CCTV walking towards a property on College Road where three shots were fired at a property, with the men then fleeing on foot towards Alum Rock Road.

Then, on July28, at around 4.30am, two masked men riding pedal bikes arrived at another property on Highfield Road and shots were fired through the front door of the home, which struck a door and internal hallway wall.

The man in the home was woken up by the shots and looked out to see the masked men outside the address, who then fled the scene on the bikes towards the junction with Harts Road.

West Midlands Police made enquiries and officers from the forces firearms team then detained Khan at his home and conducted a search in the cellar.

A black Calvin Klein bag was found inside the rafters of the ceiling and inside was a Smith and Wesson .44 calibre revolver, while officers also found a number of spent and live .44 calibre ammunition rounds.

Detective Inspector Gemma Currie, complex investigation manager at Force CID Stechford, said: “We were able to place Khan at the scene of the weapons discharges after raiding his home and discovering a gun and live ammunition in his cellar.

"The .44 calibre bullets were the same type which were recovered at the four scenes.

"These attacks would have caused a great deal of distress for people living at the addresses.

"We are delighted Khan has been taken off the streets and his custodial sentence sends out a clear message that incidents involving the discharge of weapons simply won’t be tolerated.”