Gun pair jailed for 16 years each after family home mistakenly shot at

Rayon Hyde and Nikita White shot at the address in Staffordshire in what police called an indiscriminate crime which left a bullet lodged inches from where one family member was standing.

The drama unfolded when the victims found bullets in the driveway of their home in Hammerwich, near Burntwood, on Feburary 9 last year.

Three days later, the family was at home when they heard a series of loud bangs. They investigated and found bullet damage to the front of the house, and a spent bullet case on their driveway.

Amazingly, a bullet was found in the wall above the door of a room where one of the occupants had been standing.

Police were called and a total of eight bullet casings and two misfired rounds were discovered in the driveway and surrounding area.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, CCTV, witnesses and mobile phone location data placed Hyde and White at the scene of the shootings.

Police launched raids in Birmingham at two addresses, recovering two handguns, one of which was loaded.

One had been used to attempt to fire the bullets found on the driveway on February 9 and those actually fired three days later.

During the raids, police found mobile phones and surgical gloves covered in gun shot residue, which also placed the pair at the scene of the shooting.

Details of the pair's intended target have not been released

DCI Jason O'Toole, Senior Investigating Officer, said: "We welcome today's result which follows on from an unusual and lengthy investigation.

"Fortunately, firearms incidents are incredibly rare in Lichfield and Staffordshire, and while we suspect it was a targeted attack it was evidently misguided and could have had grave consequences.

"Evidence gathered shows that this was a pre-planned shooting with three previous visits to the address, during which an unsuccessful attempt was made to shoot at the home.

"Thankfully no one was injured but the victims were left understandably shaken by these incidents and we have continued to support them throughout the investigation.

"Gun crime will not be tolerated in Staffordshire and we will do all we can to bring anyone involved in such criminality to justice."

Hyde, 28, of Church Lane, Handsworth, Birmingham, and White, 33, of Holly Road, Handsworth, were today convicted following a three week trial at Stafford Crown Court.

They were both found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited firearm.

A third defendant, Ras Thomas, 32, was cleared.