Police release footage of gun being fired at home after West Boldon man jailed for role in firearms conspiracy

Paul Momat, 36, of Owen Drive, West Boldon, and right-hand man Joseph Millward, 29, of Davy Close, Hebburn, initiated the plot in a bid to lay down a warning to a rival.

They enlisted the help of London-based criminal Colin Crawley and associate James Townsend to be the architects of the daylight shooting, with Caspian Bhinder tasked with being the middle man.

Following weeks of planning by the co-conspirators, two men – shooter Stefan Simpson along with Ashlee McKenzie – travelled 300 miles from London to the North East to carry out the offence.

They executed their plan on the afternoon of September 16, 2021, on Heaton Gardens, with Simpson discharging a handgun at an address just moments after the victim had stepped outside of his front door.

The sophisticated plot saw Simpson and McKenzie given access to accommodation in Gateshead as well as use of a stolen car which was duly arranged by Tyran Baglin.

As part of a complex investigation, detectives pored through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage which showed the suspects’ movements, as well as thousands of calls and encrypted messages sent between the defendants.