A WIRRAL man, who was part of a gang of motorcyclists who shot at a rival close to a school, has been jailed for 24 years.
John Lewis, 23, of Home Farm Road, Woodchurch was found guilty of conspiracy to sell weapons, namely a Taurus Special 38 revolver, a Skorpion Machine Pistol and a Mannlicher 9mm semi-automatic pistol, at a trial at Liverpool Crown Court and was sentenced today (Thursday, September 28 2023).
Lewis was also found guilty of conspiring with another Wirral man to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis following an investigation by detectives involved in Operation Venetic - an international investigation into the use of a mobile encryption service, commonly referred to as Encrochat.
Lewis was arrested in September 2020, after Merseyside Police detectives identified he was using the Encrochat handle ‘blazebat’ after he revealed personal data about himself including the postcode for his home address, the date he passed his driving test, his son's birthday and his own birthday.
During the trial it was revealed that between the Encrochat capture period of March 2020 to May 2020, Lewis agreed to sell firearms and played a large role in the conspiracy to supply drugs across Merseyside, North Wales and the South-West, along with a person using the username ‘santashelper’, who was found to be David Delap, 34, of Woodchurch Lane, Wirral.
Delap pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs at an earlier trial and was also sentenced today at Liverpool Crown Court where he received a jail term of five-and-a-half years.
A jury took less than two hours to unanimously find Lewis guilty of all charges on August 24, 2023.
Lewis was also sentenced today for another offence involving a shooting close to the Shell garage on Borough Road, Birkenhead on November 26, 2019 for which he received 16 years bringing his total to 24 years.
He was additionally ordered to serve a further five years on licence after being determined to be a dangerous offender.
The victim of the shooting, Jack Hayes, was a passenger in a Ford Fiesta driven by his girlfriend, when they were followed on to the forecourt of the Shell garage by four men riding on two motorbikes.
The pillion passenger of a Yamaha motorbike approached the car and fired several shots from a 9mm self-loading pistol resulting in the victim needing hospital treatment for three gunshot wounds.
Lewis was subsequently identified as being the rider of a Suzuki motorbike. Both motorbikes were witnessed travelling at excessive speeds throughout Wirral and were later found abandoned in a wooded area of Willaston.
The shooting is believed to be linked to the widley publicised feud between organised crime groups based on the Woodchurch estate and the Beechwood/Ford estate in Wirral.
Following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court in June 2022, Lewis was found guilty of Section 18 wounding, possession of a firearm and ammunition without a certificate.
The incident was believed to be related to a long running dispute between OCG members of the Woodchurch and Beechwood/Ford estates.
Alongside Lewis in the dock was Connor Chapman, aged 23, of Woodland Road, Woodchurch was also charged in connection with firearms offences but was found not guilty.
Months later, on Christmas Eve 2022, Chapman, who was also a member of the Woodchurch gang, would go on to shoot and kill 26-year-old beautician Elle Edwards outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village.
On sentencing, His Honour Judge Driver KC said: “This was a very serious crime in which you were fully engaged from beginning to end. I am in no doubt at all that you are a dangerous offender. Nothing less than an extended determinate sentence would be sufficient to protect the public from that risk."
Local policing Chief Inspector Duncan Swan, one of the senior officers in EVOLVE Wirral, added: “Encrochat messages clearly revealed Lewis’s leading involvement in drug conspiracies that have caused suffering to families and residents in our community and others across the UK.
“We know the destruction that drug supply causes and the serious violence that goes hand in hand with such criminality.
“Merseyside Police remains relentless in our pursuit of these criminals using all the powers and legislation available to us to stop the scourge of organised crime groups and we are working hard with our partners in EVOLVE Wirral to regenerate the areas that have been blighted by gangs.
“Like many offenders before him, Lewis thought he was hiding behind a secure communications system.
“Instead, he collected overwhelming incriminating evidence of his criminality and will face a long time in prison.
"We hope today's sentencing of both Delap and Lewis sends a strong message to those involved in drugs supply and the use of weapons that we will find you and we will put you behind bars.”
Anyone with information on drug supply or gang-related activity is asked to contact @MerPolCC or by calling 101. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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