Violence on the streets of Stretford ‘has to stop’ a judge said as she jailed a young man over a ‘revenge shooting’ which left a teenager in intensive care.
In full view of terrified mothers and children,. Ethan Deas, 18, blasted the 17 year-old in Langdale Road with a shotgun. The ‘horrific’ scene came 18 months after 16 year-old Kennie Carter was stabbed to death in the area.
The victim of the shooting, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was ‘present at the time Kennie Carter had been stabbed’ the court was told. The shooting, on August 10 last year, was described as a ‘revenge attack’.
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Today (December 20), Deas was jailed alongside his dad, 37 year-old Richard Williams, who moved the gun and helped his son go into hiding from police.
Deas was eventually arrested at a Salford apartment block having jumped from a balcony. Two other men, Jayden McKenzie, 20, and Decarrius Metz-Lawrence, 18, and four youths, two boys aged 16 and two aged 17, have also been sentenced for their roles in the events surrounding the shooting
“On January 22, 2022, Kennie Carter was murdered. He was only a young man. One would have hoped this would turned people against violence. Unfortunately, the reverse seems to have occurred” Judge Elizabeth Nicholls told Manchester Crown Court.
She said it was ‘not without irony’ that many of the pre-sentence reports prepared on the defendants “speak of trauma you have suffered because of violence you have witnessed”.
She added: “You are now the ones responsible for such violence. And you are the ones responsible for inflicting trauma on others” she said. “This has to stop.”
Violence erupted on August 10 last year. The court was told how the victim of the shooting had ‘the misfortune’ to walk past a property where Deas and a three of his co-defendants were present.
Deas got a taxi to Sale and returned ‘almost immediately’ with the gun and the group made their way to the scene. A 16-year-old, one of the defendants who cannot be named for legal reasons and is referred to as Boy A, armed himself with a sword. Whilst a 17 year-old, known as Boy B, was also armed, the court was told. CCTV footage showed Boy A chasing someone with the sword.
Judge Nicholls said she had ‘no doubt’ that Boy A and Boy B were aware that Deas had the gun but said the others ‘may not have known’. However, she said: “All those who were there knew that some weapons were being carried and that there was about to be some form of confrontation, that’s why they were all there.”
With the six others close by, Deas fired at his victim fired from a range of ‘no closer than six metres and no greater than ten metres’. It left him ‘lying injured and bloodied in the street.’
In the aftermath, ‘women could be seen ushering children away from the scene of the shooting’ the court was told. Police arrived and found the victim inside a property.
He was rushed to hospital and was placed on an intensive care unit. A CT scan showed shotgun pellets had entered his chest wall, lung, kidney, abdomen, back, buttock and arm. He suffered three lacerations to his spleen. He is now said to be making a ‘steady recovery.’
Within five minutes of the shooting, Williams tried to ring his son, before sending a text message reading: “Ring me now what have you done?”
In a snapchat message to Boy A, Deas told him to ‘hide it good’ because it was ‘serious’. In another message, Deas said: “My DNA on the ting….if u dont get rid(e) of that I’m done fam.”
Willimas collected the gun, which has never been found, from Boy A before taking his son to Lymm. After hearing the first members of the goup had been arrested, he made a booking at Dream Apartments, at Adelphi Wharf in Salford, where he and his son attended and checked in. That’s where Deas was detained on August 12. “He was arrested in the apartment below the one he had been staying in, seemingly having jumped from one balcony to another when the police arrived” the court was previously told.
Judge Nicholls told Williams: “The conduct was not planned, but was a spontaneous reaction to learing what your son had done.” She said his actions ‘didn’t have a significant impact on the course of justice’ but said ‘having moved the gun you prevented the recovery of a weapon which therefore must still be in circulation.” Wadding ‘consistent with the discharge of a single 12 bore shotgun cartridge’ was discovered at the scene prosecutors said.
Deas, of Tipton Drive, Wythenshawe pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent; and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life after a trial got underway last month. Judge Nicholls said he had had ‘demonstrated leadership, organisation, and planning’ before and after the attack. Following a sentencing hearing lasting two days, he was jailed for 10 years and three months on Friday.
Williams, of Jackson Street, Stretford, was jailed for two-and-a-half years for two counts of assisting an offender. Boy A was detained for a year for violent disorder and assisting an offender.
McKenzie, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 22 months in a young offenders institution, suspended for 18 months and was order to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
Metz-Lawrence, of Chatsworth Road, Stretford, who also admitted violent disorder, received a sentence of 12 months detention suspended for 18 months and 160 hours unpaid work. Boy B, Boy C, and Boy D all admitted violent disorder and were all given 12 month youth rehabiliation orders.
Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Lee Shaw, from GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: “This horrific incident could have easily left a young teenager with more serious or even fatal injuries, and these sort of vile acts are something we will never rest on or tolerate in our communities.
“The victim was left with multiple pellets in their body, of which many still remain, as further surgery could result in more pain, more damage, and further injury. Immediately following the shooting, we poured considerable resources into investigating the full circumstances which led to the events in Stretford, as well as the steps each offender took in its aftermath to cover their tracks.
“Our comprehensive work saw specialist teams use various methods to scour all available evidence and ensure the sentences of the people involved that you have seen today.
“Gun crime is something we are absolutely dedicated to tackling, and over the last three years, officers across every district have collectively seized more than 230 firearms as we look to take these deadly weapons off our streets. If you have any information about illegal firearms or activity, I would urge you to get in touch with police so we can take action against those responsible.”
