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Wolverhampton gun battle man fails to overturn 'unarguable' conviction

A man facing a 15-year sentence for his part in a shocking gunfight in Wolverhampton city centre has failed in an appeal court bid to clear his name.

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Aaron Ezeikel Brown, 33, of Julian Close, Deansfield, was jailed in November 2014 after he was convicted of involvement in the battle. Shots had been fired as terrifying scenes unfolded in St James Street, Horsley Fields, near to the Empire Lounge nightclub, in October 2013.

A sawn-off shotgun containing live ammunition was then dumped in bushes in the car park of a nearby funeral directors' premises.

Brown denied it was he who had hidden the weapon, but was convicted by a Wolverhampton jury of having a firearm with intent to endanger life.

His Ford Focus car had been seen in the area of the shooting at the time and, when it was investigated, had damage consistent with having been shot at.

CCTV footage showed him leaving the Empire Lounge at 3.26am and returning at 4.02am, with police hearing the shots at 4.01am.

Brown has always denied any involvement, saying he had loaned his car to a friend on the night of the offence.

Challenging his conviction at the Court of Appeal, Westminster, London on Tuesday, he claimed evidence served late during his trial had prejudiced his defence case.

Prosecutors had also failed to disclose relevant evidence which could have helped the defence cross-examine witnesses about vital timings in the case.

However, it took appeal judges Lord Justice Davis, Mr Justice Spencer and Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing only a matter of minutes to reject Brown's case.

Giving judgment, Mrs Justice Laing said his appeal was 'unarguable' and upheld his conviction.

Although the case against him was circumstantial, scientific evidence linked him to the car and other evidence linked the car to the gun, she said.

A jury found him guilty by a unanimous verdict of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life after deliberating for four hours and 15 minutes.

When passing sentence in November 2014, Judge Amjad Nawaz told the court: "This was a shootout between two parties in which live ammunition was discharged in the streets of Wolverhampton. It is not by design that no-one was injured."

"What is more concerning is that it was patently obvious that police officers were not too far from the location.

"They were hell-bent on shooting at each other and simply did not care what would happen."

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