Gunman jailed for debt row shooting
A gunman who shot his cousin in a packed Black Country restaurant during a row over a £20,000 gambling debt has been jailed for seven and a half years.
Tien Van Le fired three or four times at point blank range, sending one bullet tearing through the thigh of the victim.
Children as young as two among the 30 guests at the family party fled in terror as a dozen strong gang of "enforcers" – some hooded – burst into the Vietnamese Club in Wellington Road, Smethwick in April last year.
A waiter was attacked with a chair leg as they cornered and attacked Tan Lan Le, 36, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday.
Tien Van Le shot him with a revolver that had a silencer during the struggle. It is thought that the weapon had been brought into the restaurant by another member of the gang and handed to the 34-year-old gunman shortly before he opened fire. Prosecutor Mr Nick Smith said: "There was a family party in progress and children were present when about 12 people entered. There had been some sort of falling out and it suddenly became violent.
"A gun was produced and Tan Lan Le was shot in the leg. Chairs and bottles were also thrown."
A CCTV security camera at the restaurant filmed the fracas in April last year and helped police identify the gunman. Tien Van Le from Marsh Hill, Erdington, admitted wounding and possession of a handgun.
Mr Sunit Sandhu, defending, told the court: "There was a debt but he did not go there with the intention of causing any injury. He was caught up in unfolding circumstances."
Judge John Warner gave Tien Van Le consecutive sentences of five years and two-and-a-half years for the offences and told him: "You fired three or four times in a restaurant where there was a family party going on. There were children there and the possible catastrophic outcome hardly bears thinking about."
Det Sgt Michael Greenland, based at Smethwick, who investigated the shooting, said after the case: "We are pleased with the outcome. The sentence sends a clear message to those thinking of carrying guns.
"There were innocent children in that restaurant when Le opened fire and we could have been dealing with another case like the one in Liverpool that cost the life of Rhys Jones."
