Attorney General's Reference Nos. 58 to 66 of 2002

A P P E A R A N C E S:

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (LORD GOLDSMITH) and MR B ALTMAN appeared on behalf of THE CROWN

MR M GEORGE appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER COUDJOE

MR A EYERS appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER DAY

MR M GEORGE appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER GORDON

MR M LAVERY appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER McGLACKEN

MR M FIREMAN appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER SIMONS

MR S JAMES appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER PROVERBS

MISS S J KLONIN appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER O'TOO

MR S CSOKA appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER THORNE

MR D TOAL appeared on behalf of THE OFFENDER BOAKYE

Friday 21 February 2003

LORD JUSTICE KENNEDY:

1. Her Majesty's Attorney General seeks the leave of this court to refer to the court sentences passed on a number of offenders which he considers to be unduly lenient. We grant that leave.

2. The offenders are Gregory Mark Day, who is 25 years of age, having been born on 14 September 1977; Warren Coudjoe, who is 21 years of age, having been born on 15 April 1981; Michael Ryan Gordon, who is 21 years of age, having been born on 14 July 1981; Douglas Marley McGlacken, who is 17 years of age, having been born on 4 July 1985; Douglas Junior Thorne, who is 25 years of age, having been born on 6 January 1977; Troy Scott O'Too, who is 18 years of age, having been born on 17 April 1983; Moses Boakye, who is 22 years of age, having been born on 23 November 1980; Mark Simons, who is 23 years of age, having been born on 28 June 1979; and finally, Stefan Antonio Proverbs, who is 23 years of age, having been born on 15 February 1980.

3. The indictment on which they appeared in the Crown Court contained a number of counts. An offender named Pitt alone faced allegations of attempted murder (counts 1 - 3 of the indictment) and murder (counts 4 and 5). Pitt and the remaining offenders whom we have named faced allegations of conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life (count 6), and conspiracy to supply controlled drugs of class A and class B, namely heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis (count 7 in the indictment).

4. They were in each case convicted or pleaded guilty to the offences with which they were charged. They were sentenced as follows: in the case of Day, to seven years' imprisonment; in the case of Coudjoe to six years' imprisonment; in the case of Gordon, to nine years' detention in a young offender institution; in the case of McGlacken, to four-and-a-half years' detention; in the case of Thorne, to eight years' imprisonment; in the case of O'Too, to five-and-a-half years' detention in a young offender institution; in the case of Boakye, to eight years' imprisonment; in the case of Simons, to seven-and-a-half years' imprisonment; and in the case of Proverbs to six years' imprisonment.

5. In summary, the offenders were members of a gang known as the “Pit Bull Crew” whose business was the very regular retail supply of controlled drugs, including heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine, to customers within the gang's territory in Longsight in south east Manchester. Members of the gang would carry loaded firearms ostensibly for their own protection which were stored in safe houses ready and available for them to use. The safe houses would also be locations used by the gang to cut and prepare drugs for distribution. The firearms were an integral part of the drug-supply network. Members of the gang would not only carry them for their own protection but also to enforce the gang's territorial claims against rival gangs. On the occasions when the gang carried loaded weapons for use against their rivals, they dressed in dark clothing and wore balaclavas to conceal their identity, and they wore bullet-proof vests for self-protection. Also members of the gang would customarily wear golf-type gloves on their gun hand in order to prevent the transfer of fingerprints or DNA.

6. The conspiracies lasted from October 1999 to December 2000. During that period there were a number of shootings in the area and elsewhere as tensions rose between the offenders' gang and another local gang. This was particularly so in July and August 2002, and reached a peak in September 2000 when there were three attempted killings, of which Pitt was convicted, and two actual deaths, in relation to one of which he was convicted of the offence of murder. All of those offences involved the use of firearms.

7. The Pit Bull Crew was formed in 1986 by Thomas Pitt, who was then 19 years of age. It was not active until October 1999 because its founder was in prison. It then quickly acquired a .25 Spanish Bronco handgun which Pitt regularly required his girlfriend, Jodhi Bell, to hide in her underwear and to produce when necessary. She also carried drugs in the same way. They distributed drugs in the area to which we have referred. On 5 August 2000, that handgun was discharged when Daniel Grant was shot. On 10 August 2000, that same gun was used again in Etruria Close when a taxi was caught in cross- fire. On 15 September 2000, the police recovered that gun from a flat in Bickerdike Court which was rented as Thomas Ramsey. It had previously been regarded as a safe house for the purposes of the gang.

8. From an early stage trusted members of the gang were said to be the offender Day, Gordon (who was Pitt's stepbrother), and Boakye. The business of the gang was undoubtedly the selling of drugs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Pitt bought the drugs and he and the other senior members of the gang distributed them to junior members who sold the drugs on the street. Pitt himself habitually wore a bullet-proof vest, primarily no doubt because of the risk of being attacked by members of other gangs such as the “Longsight Crew”.

9. Within the Pit Bull Crew discipline was maintained by terror. In January or February 2000, at 24 Lindleywood Road, Day produced a gun and put it to the head of Leanne Willis who was there with other members of the Pit Bull Crew. On another occasion Sadie Hughes took a firearm into Manchester and Day contacted her and told her to bring it home.

10. Sadie Hughes met Pitt in about February 2000. Thereafter during her association with the gang she saw a number of firearms: the .25 handgun to which we have already referred; an MAC10 machine gun, a “cowboy” gun and perhaps two other guns. Pitt, Thorne and Coudjoe made crack cocaine at her flat. Other gang members were present when heroin was cut up and bagged there. It was her mother who sold to Pitt the “cowboy” gun which she found in a derelict yard in June 2000. Day was present at the time of that sale.

11. Sadie Hughes sold drugs with O'Too over a number of weeks from a safe house in Levenshulme. Having initially sold drugs for Pitt, she then sold them for another senior member of the gang, Boakye. She carried guns to Bickerdike Court for Pitt. When she arrived there other members of the gang would be present. She and Jodhi Bell had guns and drugs at her flat at 176 Plymouth Grove. Sadie Hughes recalled Mensah coming round with the “cowboy” gun, a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver, and taking bullets out and playing with them. He had been a founding member of the gang in 1996 in prison. When released from prison in July 2000, he was brought up to date by Day on the ongoing feud with the Longsight Crew. By that time there had been a number of tit-for-tat shootings between the rival gangs in the early months of 2000, with gang members on both sides being injured.

12. On 23 July 2000, Mensah and Day met Pitt and Ramsey, another gang member, and Ramsey shot a man named Anthony Bridges in the legs with a shotgun, probably a sawn-off shotgun recovered on 12 November 2000 from 5 Mount Road, Gorton, an address associated with Thorne, who had concealed that weapon there. That night, 23 July 2000, Mensah was at a party when Gordon produced a Nino 9mm handgun and savagely beat another youth with the butt of that gun before riding off on a bicycle and firing the gun in the air.

13. Later in July Mensah was present when Pitt first threatened, and then fired, six or seven shots at Daniel Grant as he tried to escape. Grant was hit five times but survived. On occasions Mensah was told by Pitt to fire at members of the rival gang or those with whom Pitt was in dispute. On one occasion Mensah and Ramsey were told to ambush a man named Eccleston and kill him. Both were armed, but when Eccleston appeared Mensah told Ramsey not to fire because of the position of closed-circuit television cameras.

14. In September 2000, Mensah and Simons were in a car driven by Pitt. They found a car carrying members of the Longsight Crew. Pitt told Mensah to fire at the occupants as they drove past. Mensah made as if to do so, but then said his gun had jammed -- much to the annoyance of Pitt.

15. On another occasion Gordon told Ramsey to leave a safe house on Elgar Street with the 9mm Nino gun which he knew to be “hot”, to avoid the police who were in the area, but to shoot at police officers if he saw them. On 3 September 2000, Devon Bell, a leading member of the Longsight Crew, was shot by Pitt and Thorne who caught him off guard in Langport Avenue. A number of shots were fired from the 9mm Nino gun. Bell was treated in hospital, but made no complaint.

16. On 4 September 2000, members of the Longsight Crew responded. They entered Pit Bull Crew territory. Pit Bull Crew members were at O'Too's home at 22 Giles Street, off Northmoor Road. When they heard of the invasion, Pitt, Thorne and Mensah left to seek a confrontation. All three were armed: Thorne with the 9mm Nino, Pitt with the MAC10 machine gun, and Mensah with the .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. The two groups wearing dark clothing and riding mountain bikes converged on Northmoor Road and shots were fired. One bullet hit the front window of a house. A spent cartridge case later recovered showed that the 9mm Nino and two Tokarev handguns belonging to the Longsight Crew had been fired. O'Too was later given the Smith & Wesson revolver by Mensah and told to take to it Pitt.

17. On 9 September 2000, there was a confrontation between the gangs outside Altcourse Prison where some gang members were held on remand. At about 9.45pm Pitt, armed with the machine gun, came across two Longsight Crew members sitting in a car in Fernbrook Close. He apparently tried to fire at them, but the mechanism jammed. They drove off. He rode around the corner and fired at two other Longsight Crew members, Gary Riley and Marcus Greenridge. Marcus Greenridge died. Thus Pitt faced three counts of attempted murder and one count of murder.

18. On 13 September 2000, Stephen Roberts, a Longsight Crew member, was being beaten in the car park of a West Indian Centre by of members of yet another gang, the “Gooch Close Gang”, when Pitt, Thorne and Mensah took over. Gordon and Pitt bundled Roberts into the back of Day's car and then with the other members of the Pit Bull Crew drove to Crowcroft Park. Roberts, already badly injured, was frog-marched to the middle of the park, where Pitt took out the revolver, unloaded it, loaded it with one bullet, and then proceeded to play “Russian Roulette”, spinning the chamber, putting the gun against Roberts' head, and asking, “Is this your time?” before pulling the trigger which, fortunately, clicked on each occasion.

19. Roberts was then taken to another corner of the park, stripped naked and beaten with tubing and hit with bricks. Gordon threatened to place his foot on Roberts' throat whilst he lay defenceless on the ground, and said, “That will be the end of him”. But he was allowed to live and to return to his gang as a warning to fellow members.

20. On 15 September 2000, the police raided Ramsey's flat at Bickerdike Court. They recovered the Spanish Bronco handgun, a .357 round of ammunition and other items. They left a copy of the search warrant at the flat. Members of the gang broke into the flat on 18 September and found the search warrant which was shown to Pitt. Ramsey was called to account before Pitt, Simons, Thorne, Gordon and Boakye. Ramsey, according to Mensah, was beaten by Pitt, but there were no signs of injury to his face at post-mortem examination.

21. On 19 September, the following day, Ramsey was shot dead. The weapon used was the MAC10 used in the shooting of Marcus Greenridge on 9 September. A local resident saw two males riding off on mountain bikes. The search warrant was recovered from underneath the outstretched hand of Ramsey. Pitt was charged with, but was acquitted of, that murder.

22. On 20 September 2000, a young woman named Melanie Barton and her boyfriend, who were both heroin addicts, saw Gordon and another young man in the kitchen at 17 Stansbrook Street in Levenshulme, bagging up guns.

23. On 22 September, Pitt and other senior gang members, Simons, Thorne, Boakye, Gordon and Mensah, travelled to Birmingham to meet a Birmingham gang leader called “Fitzy”, who was Simons' cousin. The purpose of that trip was to discuss inter-city and inter-gang co-operation. Fitzy required ammunition for a 9mm handgun. It was agreed that Pitt would provide the ammunition. However, on the following day Pitt was driving his car when he was ambushed by the Longsight Crew. Shots were fired. One of the weapons used on that occasion was the Tokarev handgun used in the Northmoor Road shooting on 4 September. Pitt was struck in the leg. He was able to get to the Manchester Royal Infirmary and was detained for treatment. In his absence, on 24 and 26 September, Boakye, who had assumed leadership of the gang, Gordon, Simons, Mensah and Thorne, were involved in swapping the 9mm Nino handgun with Fitzy for a Makarov handgun and a Webley & Scott .38 revolver. Those handguns were later recovered from 40 Letchworth Street, Moss Side, the address which Mensah shared with his girlfriend, and from 18 Parkin Street, Longsight, the home address of Sandra Thorne, who was the cousin of the offender, Douglas Thorne.

24. On 27 September 2000, Boakye, Gordon, Simons and Mensah went to London to replenish their stocks of cocaine and heroin. Boakye made contact with a supplier in Hackney and, according to Mensah, the senior gang members put together £7,000 - £8,000 in order to purchase a quarter kilo of cocaine.

25. On the following day, 28 September, Mensah and his girlfriend were arrested at 40 Letchworth Street. The shootings, however, continued. On 5 October, a Longsight Crew member, Phipps, was shot in the grounds of St Clement's School, Openshaw. The weapon used on that occasion was the Webley & Scott revolver.

26. On 11 October 2000, just before midnight, a taxi driver, Mr Butt, was robbed at gunpoint, having gone to 68 Parkin Street and collected two men and two women. One of the men was said to be McGlacken, but McGlacken has disputed that he was in fact involved. When Butt informed his passengers of the fare, one of them produced a gun and put it to the back of the driver's head. They left the taxi without paying and also left behind them on the seat a .38 Smith & Wesson bulleted cartridge. Police also recovered from the taxi a plastic bag containing 18 snap bags containing 3.76 grammes of heroine. The plastic bag was scientifically linked, it was said, to McGlacken. The next day Mr Butt's car keys were recovered from McGlacken who asserted that he had obtained them from someone else.

27. Thereafter the offenders were arrested and searches carried out at properties connected with them and persons with whom they were associated. The Spanish Bronco was recovered on 15 September from Bickerdike Court, the address in Ramsey's name. Pitt's DNA was on the trigger and slide grip of the firearm. That firearm was a prohibited weapon. The Webley & Scott .38 revolver was recovered on 21 November from 18 Parkin Street, the home address of Sandra Thorne, Douglas Thorne's cousin. Proverbs' DNA profile was said to match DNA recovered from that revolver.

28. The .357 Smith & Wesson revolver was recovered from the rear of Eskdale House, Longsight, when police chased Proverbs and Thorne from a taxi. That gun was loaded with ammunition when discovered.

29. The 9mm Makarov pistol was recovered on 28 September from 40 Letchworth Street during Mensah's arrest. It was also found to be loaded. That firearm was a prohibited firearm within the terms of the 1968 Act. The bulleted cartridge found inside the firearm was prohibited ammunition under the terms of the Act.

30. A sawn-off Loekler Blitz shotgun was recovered on 12 November 2000 from 5 Mount Road, Gorton, an address linked to Douglas Thorne. DNA recovered from the shotgun matched Proverbs' profile. That firearm also was a prohibited weapon.

31. A Tokarev handgun was recovered from the body of Marcus Greenridge on 9 September.

32. The MAC10 machine gun and the 9mm Nino handgun were never recovered.

33. During searches at the home of McGlacken at 68 Parkin Street, Longsight, on 25 July, 12 October and 30 October 2000, police recovered 24 plastic snap bags, 55 shotgun cartridges, a black balaclava and body armour. The body armour was found to contain gunshot residue and bore two areas of firearm-related damage, each typical of that produced by the discharge of a shot cartridge.

34. On 30 July 2000, during a search of Coudjoe, police recovered 2.62 grammes of heroin at 42% purity with a street value of between £100 and £260, nine self-sealed plastic bags containing heroin with a total weight of 1.13 grammes at 41% purity and a street value of £100, a self-seal bag containing 14 clingfilm packages containing crack cocaine, four of which weighed 84 grammes at a purity of 56%, six of which weighed 1.79 grammes at a purity of 54%, and four of which weighed .84 grammes at a purity of 73% with a combined value of between £210 and £280.

35. On 3 August 2000, Coudjoe was arrested on suspicion of possessing controlled drugs with intent to supply. Police recovered from him a bag containing .95mg of heroin with a street value of £10, six bags containing clingfilm wraps of crack cocaine with a total weight of 1.10 grammes and a street value of between £100 and £120, and £255 in cash.

36. In addition to the finding of the Spanish .25 Bronco pistol during the search of 64 Bickerdike Court on 15 September, police recovered a magazine for the pistol, a Magnum .357 revolver cartridge, quantities of cash, kitchen scales and golf gloves.

37. On 28 September 2000, in addition to the Makarov pistol, police also recovered from 40 Letchworth Street (Mensah's address) body armour and 14 bags of crack cocaine hidden in a sugar pot. The cocaine had a weight of 3.5 grammes with a purity of 38%. Police also recovered drugs paraphernalia such as bags and scales. Gunshot residue was detected on the body armour.

38. On 11 November 2000, in addition to the recovery of the loaded Smith & Wesson revolver, police recovered a black balaclava and 55 grammes of cannabis with a street value of £275.

39. On the same day police recovered from 5 Mount Road, Gorton, assorted shotgun cartridges, 9mm bulleted cartridges and body armour, and from 18 Parkin Street (Sarah Thorne's address), six 9mm Luger rounds of ammunition and body armour.

40. On 15 November 2000, police arrested Boakye at 62 Levenshulme Road, Manchester. Police recovered from him a self-seal bag containing 6.6 grammes of heroin with a street value of between £240 and £620, a clingfilm package containing 2.97 grammes of cocaine with a value of between £120 and £300, a knotted plastic bag containing 6.64 grammes of cocaine with a value of £660, a bag containing 14 similar knotted plastic packages containing a total of 4.8 grammes of heroin with a value of between £200 and £480, and a self-seal bag containing ten further knotted bags containing plastic packages with a total of 1.56 grammes of heroin with a value of between £60 and £150.

41. On 22 November 2000, Pitt and Gordon were arrested. Gunshot residue was found in Gordon's tracksuit bottoms and on a cagoule worn by him. A pair of combat trousers removed from Pitt was discovered to have traces of gunshot residue.

42. During a search of 2 Southsea Street, Gorton, on 10 January 2001, which was Gordon's home address, police recovered over £3,000 in cash.

43. A number of radio scanners and balaclavas were recovered by police from addresses associated with the offenders.

44. There were, it is said on behalf of the Attorney General, a number of aggravating features which were common to all the offenders. The conspiracy offence alleged in count 6 reflected the most serious offending of its kind, namely prolonged and premeditated violence with the use of firearms. The firearms used by the offenders were used ruthlessly to protect their drugs business and to enforce their reign. Those weapons were in some instances prohibited under the terms of the 1968 Act and had no useful purpose. The offenders habitually carried loaded firearms with them in public places with the express purpose of using them to endanger life, either for their own protection or, as often, to discharge them at rival gang members with whom they were in conflict. Two individuals were in fact killed, one by Pitt, by the use of the gang's weaponry, and attempts were made by Pitt on the lives of others, inflicting serious injury. Others were threatened or struck with weapons belonging to the gang. Weapons were repeatedly discharged in built-up or residential areas without any care or concern for ordinary members of the public who might be caught in the cross-fire as, for example, was one taxi driver. Innocent members of the public were occasionally caught in the cross-fire whilst lethal weapons were being discharged.

45. The conspiracy offence alleged in count 7 reflected the retail trade by the offenders in controlled drugs, especially in class A Drugs (crack cocaine and heroin), and class B (cannabis). The supply of those drugs was operated and organised by the offenders as a business. The business was large-scale. It operated over a substantial period of time and took place on a daily basis.

46. In his opening submissions the Attorney General drew our attention to the increase in gun crime, especially in large cities such as Manchester, and to the development of gangs which make money by peddling drugs and protect their business and their territory with guns. Plainly it attracts some young people and the courts must do what they can to stamp it out. The two offences of which these young man were convicted or to which they pleaded guilty both carry maximum sentences of life imprisonment. The Attorney General does not contend for that starting point; but he does contend that the very experienced trial judge who passed sentence in this case should have started at a much higher level.

47. In relation to the conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life (count 6 in the indictment), our attention was drawn to what was said in this court in R v Avis [1998] 2 Cr App R(S) 178, and to the decisions of this court in R v Farrer and Pendrigh (1995) 16 Cr App R(S) 904, Attorney General's Reference No 49 of 1998 (R v Chevelleau) [1999] 1 Cr App R(S) 178, and Attorney General's Reference No 2 of 2000 (R v Hinds) [2001] 1 Cr App R(S) 27.

48. Those last two case demonstrate that in a contested case simple possession of a firearm together with ammunition with intent to endanger life merits a sentence of between seven and eight years. Here the gang, as all its members knew, had access to a number of firearms which were frequently used. Considering count 7 alone, the conspiracy to supply drugs of classes A and B, and the way that conspiracy was put into effect, the Attorney General submits that the court should have been thinking in terms of a sentence in a contested case in the region of up to ten years. That seems to us to be correct. The question is the extent to which the criminal activity is aggravated by the use of guns. As to that the Attorney General's submission is that for someone of full age at the centre of this activity the total sentence should have been close to twenty years.

49. In general terms we agree, but we do consider that it is necessary to give careful consideration to the position of each offender and that factors such as youth, previous offending and peer pressure do have a part to play. We do not regard ourselves on this reference as being bound to arrive at a conclusion within the parameters set by the trial judge in relation to the offender Pitt or the offender Mensah. In most cases where guns are carried and used, it is desirable to pass a consecutive sentence to mark the additional gravity attributable to the presence of firearms. But if that is done in a case such as this, the sentences which are passed have to be adjusted to ensure that the total sentence is not too high.

50. In this case we propose to look, first, at the four offenders who are described as senior members of the gang. We start with the offender Gordon. Gordon was at the time of the offending 18 to 19 years of age. He is now 21. He was convicted by a jury. He did not have any previous convictions. On 23 July he was at the party when the Nino handgun was produced and he savagely beat another youth with the butt of the gun, then rode off firing it into the air. He told Ramsey to leave Elgar Street, the safe house, with that gun when it was described as “hot” in order to avoid armed police and to shoot them if he saw them. On 13 September he helped to bundle Roberts into Day's car and took him to the park, where Roberts was subjected to Russian Roulette and then abused in the way that we have described. At the end of that abuse Gordon put his foot on Roberts' throat. On 15 September, when the police raided Ramsey's flat and recovered the Bronco, Gordon was one of those who called Ramsey to account before he was shot on the following day.

51. On 20 September Gordon and another were seen bagging up guns. On 22 September, he went with Pitt and others to Birmingham in order to meet Fitzy and was a party between 24 and 26 September to the exchange of weapons with Fitzy. On 27 September, he and others went to London to buy drugs. On 22 November he was arrested with gunshot residue found on his clothing, and £3,000 was found at his home address. Nothing turns on the fact that he was the step-brother of Pitt, but he was unquestionably a senior member of the gang: a senior drug distributer and supplier of heroin, present when firearms were clearly in evidence, and in the judge's view he was up to his neck in this matter and a very significant player.

52. He seeks the leave of this court to appeal on the basis that there was not a sufficient distinction made between the sentences which were imposed on Thorne and Simons and the sentence imposed on him. He received nine years' detention in a young offender institution. We now have to decide whether that sentence was unduly lenient.

53. In our judgment that sentence was unduly lenient. In respect of count 6 in the indictment so far as Gordon is concerned, we consider that an appropriate sentence would have been eight years' detention in a young offender institution, with a consecutive sentence of six years' detention in respect of count 7 of the indictment, those sentences being only at that level because of the age of that particular offender and because that is a matter which it was appropriate for the judge to take into account. We have to decide now what the sentence should be, having regard to the fact that he is being sentenced for a second time. Because of that factor, in respect of count 6 in the indictment, the sentence will be one of seven years' detention, and in respect of count 7, one of five years' detention, making a total of twelve years' detention in all. We decline to give him leave to appeal.

54. We turn to the next of the senior members of this gang, Douglas Thorne. Thorne was born on 6 January 1977, so that at the material time he was about 22 to 23 years of age. He was convicted by the jury. He had previous conviction for possessing a prohibited weapon (although we are told it was simply a CS gas canister), for supplying cocaine and being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine. He was, it seems, involved in the manufacture of drugs in Sadie Hughes' flat. He disputes, although there was evidence from Mensah to the contrary, that he was involved in any way when Devon Bell was shot by Pitt on 3 September 2000. Be that as it may, on 4 September 2000, he left O'Too's house with Pitt and Mensah to confront members of the Longsight Crew. On that occasion he was armed with the 9mm Nino, and there was an exchange of fire during which that weapon was discharged. On 13 September he with Pitt and Mensah took over the beating of Roberts from the Gooch Close gang. Roberts was then taken to the park in the manner we have described. On 15 September, when Ramsey was called to account after the police recovered the Bronco from his address, Thorne was involved. The next day Ramsey was killed. On 22 September Thorne was involved in the trip to Birmingham to meet Fitzy. He was again involved in the subsequent exchange of weapons. He was also involved, so far as recovery of the weapons was concerned, because one weapon which was thus obtained from Birmingham was recovered from the home of his cousin. On 11 November the Smith & Wesson revolver was recovered from the rear of Eskdale House when Thorne and Proverbs were chased by the police. There was also recovered on that occasion the balaclavas and some cannabis. Assorted ammunition and body armour were recovered from two addresses which were linked to him. On 12 November a shotgun, which was probably the one used by Ramsey to shoot Bridges in the legs, was recovered from an address also linked with Thorne. On any view he was a senior gang member involved in the preparation of drugs and the handling of firearms. The judge accepted that (in his words) he was “the least around” because on the evidence of Mensah he was not seen a great deal. But he was, the judge also found, a leader -- not the leader, but in the level immediately below. He was only involved between July and November, as his counsel has submitted to us. But nevertheless he was seriously involved in that extremely important period. In his case the judge imposed concurrent sentences of eight years' imprisonment.

55. We regard those sentences as unduly lenient. We set aside those sentences. We substitute for them in respect of count 6 a sentence of eight years' imprisonment, and in respect of count 7, one of six years. But we have to take into account, as we did in the case of Gordon, the fact that we are now sentencing for a second time. So in respect of each of those offences we reduce the sentence to in the one case seven years and in the other case five, making a total in his case also of twelve years' imprisonment. He receives the same sentence as in the case of Gordon, although he is older, because he was around for a somewhat shorter time.

56. We turn now to Moses Boakye. He was born on 23 November 1980, so that at the time of these events he was 19 to 20 years of age. He pleaded guilty on 17 January 2002, the first day of the third trial, on the basis that he had not discharged any firearm or been present when one was discharged. He also had no relevant previous convictions. He was, nevertheless, a very senior member of the gang and was so described. Sadie Hughes said that she sold drugs for Boakye after she had stopped selling them for Pitt. On 15 September, when Ramsey was called to account, Boakye was involved. On 22 September he went with Pitt and others to Birmingham and on 24 to 26 September he was involved in the exchange of weapons with Birmingham. On 27 September he was involved in the trip to London. On 15 November he was arrested, and when he was arrested police recovered heroin and cocaine.

57. He also seeks leave to appeal on the grounds of disparity. In his case the sentencing judge sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment concurrent on each of the two counts.

58. We are satisfied that in his case also the sentence which was imposed was unduly lenient. In our judgment the sentence which should have been imposed, taking into account his plea of guilty (albeit late) was one in respect of count 6 of seven years' imprisonment, and in respect of count 7, of five years' imprisonment, making twelve years' imprisonment in all. We have regard in his case, too, to the fact that we are re-sentencing. Accordingly we adjust those figures so that in respect of count 6 the sentence in his case will be one of six years' imprisonment, and in respect of count 7 one of four years' imprisonment, making ten years' imprisonment in all. We decline to give him leave to appeal.

59. We turn to Simons, the last of the senior members of the gang. He was born on 28 June 1979, so that he was 20 to 21 years of age at the material time and is now 23. He was convicted by the jury. He had a previous offence of possessing one round of ammunition without a certificate and was released from prison on 12 September 2000. On the next day he was seen at Bickerdike Court. In that month he was in the car with Pitt and Mensah when Pitt told Mensah to fire at the Longsight Crew's car as they drove past. On 18 September, after police recovered the Bronco gun and Ramsey was called to account, Simons was there. On 22 September he went with Pitt and the others to Birmingham to meet Fitzy in Birmingham. He was involved in the subsequent exchange of weapons. He went to London on the trip to buy drugs. For the short period he was involved, he was a senior member and an active member of the gang. It is pointed out to us, rightly, that he was involved for a shorter period but, as the judge said, during that period he was up to his neck in it. So far as he was concerned, the judge passed concurrent sentences of seven-and-a-half years' imprisonment.

60. We take the view that those sentences were unduly lenient. The sentences, in our judgment, in his case should have been sentences of eight years in respect of count 6 and six years in respect of count 7, making a total of fourteen years' imprisonment. He was only involved for a short time, but he was older than, for example, Gordon. Taking into account the fact that we are sentencing him for a second time, we adjust his sentences, as we adjusted the sentences of the others. In respect of count 6, the sentence in his case also will be one of seven years' imprisonment; in respect of count 7, five years' imprisonment, making a total of twelve years' imprisonment in all.

61. We now turn to the remainder of the offender: Day, Coudjoe, McGlacken, O'Too and Proverbs, all of whom were junior members of this gang. Two of those we have just named, McGlacken and O'Too, were conspicuously younger than the others. All of them, because they were junior member of the gang, were much less involved with the firearms' aspect of this gang's activities and in many cases were not involved with the firearms activities at all, save that they knew that the others members of the gang did have available and did use firearms. There is of course a distinction to be drawn, which we recognise, between those who actually themselves had possession of firearms and used them, and those who as junior members of the gang or other members of the gang are simply aware of the fact that those with whom they share gang membership do possess such weapons. The junior members of the gang fall into the latter category and it is therefore important when sentencing them to have regard to that fact.

62. We have considered carefully the sentences imposed in respect of each of them. It can be said in relation to each that the sentences were lenient. The question arises as to whether they were unduly lenient and whether this court should interfere with them. If we were to find that they were unduly lenient, when we come to pass sentence we should have to have regard, as we have in relation to each of the senior members of the gang, to the fact that it is necessary on passing sentence now to recognise that we would be passing sentence for a second time.

63. Although the sentences were lenient, we are not satisfied that the sentences imposed in respect of the junior members of the gang were unduly lenient. So far as they are concerned, the sentences passed by the trial judge will stand.