Three jailed for 80 years in total for shotgun murder of man over £175 drug debt

Gang leader Ravi Talware, 33, was among the masked males who invaded the "drug house" in Caslon Crescent in Norton on February 25 last year, where the victim was shot in the chest with a sawn-off shotgun at point blank range.

Talware, of Wolverhampton, was described in court as a "kingpin" who preyed on deprived estates, using addicts who were "beholden" to him to peddle hard drugs in the Stourbridge area 13 miles away.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday afternoon he was sentenced to a minimum term of 34 years for the shooting of Mr Jones, aged 36, who was a drug addict and regular customer. Talware of Cavalier Circus, Bushbury, had 14 previous convictions including for possessing weapons and supplying cocaine in 2019, when he was jailed for four years and six months in Swansea.

Mr Jones, who was a twin, died at the scene while his younger brother Sebastian Jones, 27, survived stab wounds including a punctured lung when the group unexpectedly arrived at the property.

Addressing Talware, who was in breach of his licence when he shot Mr Jones, trial judge Mrs Justice Stacey said: "There was a significant amount of planning. You led the murder of John Jones in cold blood. It was in effect an execution organised over a period of weeks.

"It was you who fired the gun."

The judge said Talware had been "callous and arrogant".

"You have shown no remorse. At the end of the trial you deliberately tried to increase the family's pain when you called out to Sebastian Jones, 'yo Seb, where is John? Oh, he's dead'.

"I pay tribute to the family who showed restraint and dignity."

Talware; Kevin Waldron, 41, of Leonard Road, and Scott Garrington, 52, of Bridgnorth Road, both in Wollaston, were all found guilty of murder, possession of a shotgun, possession of bladed articles and perverting the course of justice in April after a trial.

Waldron, who had 50 previous convictions for 121 offences, was jailed for 24 years for his role which included recruiting three youths to assist with the enterprise on Talware's behalf. Garrington, who had a 30-year drug addiction, did not go to the house, but helped to organise the raid and dispose of a Laguna used in the crime. He was jailed for 22 years.

Three youths, all now aged 17, were convicted of manslaughter, wounding, and possession of an imitation firearm as well as possession of bladed articles.

One of them was sentenced to eight years and six months plus three years extended youth detention in total while the other two were sentenced to eight years each.

They cannot be named due to their ages.

The judge praised the jury, the detectives and court staff. She added that she hoped the sentences given to the defendants would assist the Jones family in coming to terms with the loss of their "brother and son".