Drug-dealing Willenhall loan shark jailed after opening fire on own family's car amid cash dispute with uncle
A drug-dealing loan shark from Willenhall has been jailed after opening fire outside his own uncle's Wolverhampton home in retribution for an unpaid debt.
Harvinder Rana, 37, drove past his uncle's Hendon Avenue home in Ettingshall around midnight on July 24, 2024. A few minutes later Rana returned, driving slower, and from touching distance fired four or five shots into a car parked outside.
The home was packed with family members and children. In the preceding weeks Rana had sent his uncle threatening messages demanding a substantial debt be repaid.
Seeing bullets rip through his sister's car, Rana's uncle phoned the police to report his nephew's escalation of their dispute.
Rana was arrested two days later after CCTV captured the drive-by shooting. It brought a swift end to his criminal empire which included cocaine dealing, cannabis production and money lending.
When West Midlands Police raided a premises linked to Rana they found cannabis and cocaine worth more than £70,000 and electricity being stolen from a neighbouring property.
Rana, of Keats Road, Willenhall, appeared at Walsall Magistrates Court three days later and indicated guilty pleas to possessing cannabis and cocaine with intent to supply and stealing electricity. He also admitted causing criminal damage whilst in possession of a gun, in contravention of the 1968 Firearms Act.
The charge is one of the statute book's most minor offences concerning firearms, which successive Black Country judges have warned are causing fear and pain in local communities.
Judge Simon Ward expressed his displeasure Rana was allowed to admit a lesser gun charge after opening fire in a residential street.
He said: "I was rather surprised to see this charge being used after a gun was fired outside a family home. It stands to reason when a gun is fired someone could be injured.
"A bullet could have entered the house, but the defendant had pleaded guilty before the matter came before me."
He told Rana: "What you were doing was being a drug dealer, you had over £6,500 of cocaine as you had in your possession 200 grams, which is a lot of stock. You also had a sizeable cannabis production operation.
"You also were lending money at the time, which was seen as a good thing. When you lent [your uncle] money, neither of you foresaw the problems it would create.
"When the debt went unpaid you got hold of a gun and ammunition, to show what type of serious criminal you are."
The court heard Rana missed his grandmother's death whilst on remand, was a familiar sight volunteering in food banks and turned to crime after his legitimate business failed.
Early guilty pleas also meant his sentence was reduced by more than 25 per cent. For the firearms offence he received a four-year sentence and for the drugs offences he received a sentence of two and a half years, consecutive to the former.
Judge Ward said: "A lot of people submitted statements describing your decency and working for charity. But that does not alter the fact you are a drug dealer who was happy to use your gun to prove a point."