Wellingborough shooting trial – drug dealers tried to ‘kill their rival’ by firing five bullets into a car in Croyland Park, court hears
Two drug dealers from Kettering and Wellingborough drove to Maidenhead to buy a semi-automatic pistol to shoot their rival, a court heard on day one of an attempted murder trial.
Two drug dealers ‘tried to kill a rival by shooting five bullets at his car in a public park in Wellingborough’, a court has heard.
But their target had already escaped to London – and they had actually shot at the car of three totally innocent men who were parked at Croyland Park on the Kingsway estate.
Kieran John McGrath and his friend Jake Benjamin Anderson are standing trial for the attempted murder of Raheem Bourne at Northampton Crown Court.
Yesterday (September 9) prosecutor Adrian Langdale KC opened his case against Anderson, of Stamford Road, Kettering, and McGrath, of Duke Street, Wellingborough by outlining the allegations against the two defendants.
He said that the McGrath, 30, was a drug dealer in Wellingborough and Mr Bourne – who uses the street name Wocka – was a dealer on a neighbouring patch in Northampton.
In the days before the shooting, the men had fallen out and tensions had escalated between the pair when Mr Bourne smashed McGrath’s car window with a brick on Friday, June 27, last year.
The men argued by text message, with Mr Bourne saying he would come to Wellingborough for the pair to talk.
Mr Langdale told the court that McGrath and Anderson, 32, drove to Maidenhead the following day, bought a gun, and lured Mr Bourne to Croyland Park on the same evening.
But Mr Bourne had sent a female lookout to the park, who was reporting back the events live to him.
She watched as Anderson, McGrath and a third man, alleged to be Asriel McLeod, circled the area six times in Anderson’s mini, then pulled into the car park and flashed the headlights at a waiting black Audi. By this time, it was after midnight.
A man thought to be McGrath jumped out and began shooting at the black vehicle.
After discharging five bullets, the group fled the scene.
But Bourne was not in the Audi, and had already left Northamptonshire. Instead, three innocent bystanders were shot at. Mercifully, they were not injured.
‘I’m going to kill you'
Mr Langdale said: “This shooting came about because of a background of rival drug dealers falling out, and tit-for-tat threats.”
He said these threats culminated in a desire for the rivals to ‘take out’ their respective drug operations.
"The previous night, Wocka, the rival drug dealer, attacked the car of Kieran McGrath,” said Mr Langdale.
"It occurred outside his home in Duke Street.
"Mr McGrath filmed the attack. He gives a running commentary…
"There followed a torrent of threats between the two sides – Mr McGrath on one side, Wocka on the other.
"It culminated in threats to kill Mr Bourne. Mr McGrath was telling him in open terms ‘I’m going to kill you.’
"That would culminate in just the attack that night, in a car park at the bottom of his road, the Croyland Park car park.”
Six circuits
Mr Landgale said that Anderson was a member of McGrath’s gang and the pair had spent much of Saturday, June 28 together.
He alleged that the pair had driven to Maidenhead together, where they stayed ten minutes to buy a semi-automatic pistol, before driving back to Wellingborough.
“From text messages received, Jake Anderson obviously worked for Mr McGrath and assisted him in his drug dealing operation,” said Mr Langdale.
"This was a criminal operation from beginning to end, and this is how they deal with their operations.”
Later that evening, with Anderson driving and McGrath and Asriel McLeod in the car, the mini did six circuits around Princess Way, Kingsway, Margaret Avenue and Central Avenue looking at Croyland Park car park as they passed it, before stopping.
‘Simmering tension’
Mr Langdale said: “They deliberately drove up to, and stopped behind, a black Audi.
"This was 12.20am on a Sunday morning. It was deserted but for two cars.
"From the messages that had been exchanged, the defendants clearly believed the Audi would contain Wocka.
"Mr Anderson and Mr McGrath planned not to simply meet Mr Bourne, or even to frighten him.
"They planned to ambush him. They planned to shoot him. They planned to kill him and solve the issue once and for all, as a result of this simmering tension.”
He said that McGrath got out of the car wearing a black puffa, a black balaclava and blue Nitrile gloves designed to ‘keep his forensic footprint down.’
"The occupants of the black Audi became nervous at the close proximity of a mini parked behind them with its headlights on,” said Mr Langdale.
"They became even more nervous when Mr Anderson began to flash his headlights at them.
"They started to drive away, but before they could, Mr McGrath had got out of the car.”
Mr Langdale described McGrath firing rapidly at, and into, the car.
He shot at the drivers’ door and as the car got away from him he shot at the window, Mr Langdale said, adding: “He levelled that 9mm semi-automatic pistol and discharged five bullets, trying to kill his rival.”
‘But there’s a twist in this..’
Bullets were lodged in the cill of the driver’s door and in the boot.
Mr Langdale said it was ‘pure chance’ that none of the bullets hit the occupants.
"You can be under no doubt that Mr Anderson and Mr McGrath intended to murder Mr Bourne,” said Mr Langdale.
"What else do you seriously intend other than to kill someone if you discharge five bullets at a car with human beings in it at close range?”
“But there’s a twist in this, because instead of Mr Bourne being sat in the Audi, in fact it contained three young, innocent men who were just going about their business. They ended up being the people that were targeted by mistake.
"They weren’t drug dealers. These were three young men whose only crime had been to go to the gym and, after going to the gym, had spent some time chilling out together.
"And having pulled into a car park at the very moment Raheem Bourne was bragging he was in that car park, they were the ones who ended up nearly being killed.
"That’s what happens when drug rivals.. decide to go and get a firearm and let it loose in Wellingborough.”
‘What did he think they were going to do? Go pheasant shooting?’
The court was told that Bourne was already heading to London and had dispatched a female friend, Anaiah Dupont-Spencer, to the car park to see if McGrath turned up. Parked in the far corner, Mr Langdale said that she provided a ‘running commentary’ to Mr Bourne.
"Instead of rival drug dealers, these defendants fired upon, and nearly killed, three entirely innocent individuals and they simply did not care.
"Their only concern was to try and get away and save their own necks.”
Mr Langdale said that it was his belief that McGrath would claim during the trial he didn’t intend to kill Mr Bourne, and that he had pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent because it was ‘the least he could get away with.’
"It’s a blatant attempt by him to downplay and minimise what he actually did,” said Mr Langdale.
He said that Mr Anderson would likely say that he didn’t know what was going to happen when he drove McGrath and Mr McLeod to the shooting.
"He’ll accept he drove two men to a shooting,” said Mr Langdale.
"They drove repeatedly past the car park looking for the car...
"What did he think they were going to do? Go pheasant shooting? What else did he anticipate was going to happen?”
Kieran McGrath and Jake Anderson deny attempted murder. McGrath has pleaded guilty to charge of possession of a firearm with intent to cause a person to believe unlawful violence would be used against them. Anderson denies that charge. Asriel McLeod is not standing trial in relation to this case.
The trial continues.