A getaway driver who ferried a gunman around the region when an alleged drugs gang war exploded into violence has been locked up.
Jack Walker travelled up to the North East on two occasions after a feud descended into potentially fatal violence when guns were fired at two homes in Staindrop and Thornaby.
The 30-year-old was the driver for the gunman, named only as Slim, when an organised crime group from Northampton were drafted into the drugs war, Teesside Crown Court heard.
A live hand grenade was recovered from the rear of a Skoda Octavia left abandoned on Teesside after the first shooting.
Sam Faulks, prosecuting, said the gunman fired shots through the front door at a family home in the Staindrop area while a young child was in the targeted property on March 29.
The court heard how a self-loading pistol was fired three times through the front door but nobody inside suffered any injuries.
Two weeks later they were back in the region when they targeted a property on Shetland Avenue in Thornaby on Friday, April 12.
CCTV footage from a neighbouring property captured the gunman shouting outside the front door before discharging the firearm and fleeing the scene at high speed in a stolen Audi A3 driven by Walker.
The car was found burned out in nearby Billingham 15 minutes later and police were able to track Walker driving back to his native Northampton when he switched his mobile phone back on.
Mr Faulks said the occupants of the property had not helped police in their investigations and refused to provide a statement about the gun attack.
Walker, of Ecton Lane, Northampton, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and assisting an offender.
Victoria Smith Swain, mitigating, said her client was forced to take part in the shootings after racking up drugs debts of around £3,500 but was not a member of any organised crime gang and was fearful of naming the gunman to police.
“He was pressured into his association with the offender known as Slim,” she said. “He recognises he should not have been driving at all that day, he was a disqualified driver, he shouldn’t have been taking Slim to the North East.”
The court heard how Walker’s youngest child was born while he was being held on remand and had not seen the child yet.
Judge Francis Laird described the shootings as well planned and sophisticated as he locked Walker up for a total of 12 years and six months after hearing how he was £500 for the job.
“You were a reluctant participant and feared the consequences if you refused to get involved,” he said.
“You are to be sentenced for your involvement in two highly sophisticated and very serious acts involving the discharge of firearms into occupied dwellings.
“The was a significant degree of planning and sophistication.”
The judge sentenced him to 11 years and eight months for his role as the getaway driver and activated a further ten months of a suspended sentence for possession with intent to supply drugs and driving offences.
Two women, aged 31 and 30, and a 31-year-old man from Northampton, along with a 17-year-old boy from Billingham, have been released from police bail.
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