A “dangerous” teenager immersed in a “culture of gangs and guns”

A teenage gunman who opened fire in a store has been jailed. In an act stemming from “gang rivalry”, Jacob Richards, then aged 15, shot three times in the Cheadle Hulme store before shooting a passing delivery driver. No one was hurt.

Richards, now 18, also staged a petrol bomb attack on a family home weeks before opening fire inside and outside a local shop. He was labeled a danger to society by a judge who gave him an extended prison sentence of 12 years.

The offenses took place during a “short period of absolute chaos” in his life, Philip Barnes, defending, said. Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said his “offending and conduct has continued unabated” since his imprisonment.

LEARN MORE: Jay Slater's search teams roaming Tenerife's dangerous mountains 'still have hope' of finding him alive

Richards, now 18, was jailed for a string of crimes, including his involvement in an arson attack at a family home; and conspiracy to possess other firearms revealed by prison phone call recordings.

Prosecutors said he became “firmly entrenched in a culture of gangs and guns.” He “bragged” about his crimes in raps, also captured in recorded calls from prison, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Following the shooting, Richards was held on remand at Wetherby Young Offenders Institution in Leeds. Among the series of 15 “serious” and “extremely serious” offenses for which he was convicted were punching and slapping a female prison guard; and stabbing a prison guard in the leg with an improvised weapon, probably a sharpened pen or paintbrush.

Prison staff allege he “frequently carries a weapon and is involved in frequent confrontations”, Judge Nicholls said. Michael Lavery, prosecuting, said: “There are two ongoing investigations into this defendant's conduct while in custody, both relating to the possession of improvised weapons, toothbrushes with razor blades attached.

“He has not yet been questioned about this. The process is in its early stages and it may take some time before it is concluded.”

The court had previously heard that Richards had staged an arson attack at the home of a former friend with whom he had fallen out. He lived at the property with his mother and his mother was at home during the nighttime attack on May 16, 2021.

A man threw a metal bar at the front window to try to break it, and when it didn't, he threw the Molotov cocktail. This failed to break the glass, but caused damage to the exterior. As he fled, the man set his leg on fire.

Five days later, Richards showed up at the same house himself and attempted to break the window by throwing a brick at it several times, but failed. Richards and another man admitted to conspiring to plan the arson.

The victim said: “I feel traumatized. I feel like I've lost everything. I used to feel safe in my own home, but that's gone.”

“You recruited people to carry out what could have been a devastating attack, a revenge attack or an attack for the purpose of intimidation,” Judge Nicholls told Richards.

The shooting happened in broad daylight at the DA Shop on Worcester Road in June 2021. Richards and another man entered the convenience store armed with guns. Another man pointed his gun at two staff members: the store owner and an assistant.

The shopkeeper threw himself and his colleague to the ground behind the counter, pressing the panic alarm, which released smoke. Richards fired three shots at the counter. The weapon, believed to be a converted blank pistol, fired pellets.

As he fled, Richards locked eyes with a delivery driver who was driving past the terrifying scene in his car. “What?” Richards shouted before pointing his gun at the car and shooting again. Fortunately, no one got hurt.

The attack on the store was reported to police as an attempted robbery. But prosecutors said it was “a revenge attack against the backdrop of a rivalry between criminal gangs.” Richards later told a social worker that the shooting was an “act of retaliation.”

His targeting of the delivery driver was described in court as a “gratuitous act of violence”, which he later “bragged about” in recorded prison calls, “with no regrets”.

Richards was the fifth defendant to be jailed following what GMP described as a “complex” investigation into a gang that was “terrorizing Stockport”.

Richards was sentenced this week to eight years' imprisonment and a four-year extended license for firearms offences, as well as arson with intent; assault under section 47; because the judge described him as “dangerous”.

She said her previous convictions for violent offenses and her “repeated failure to comply” with probation service obligations had “worsened” her situation. “Despite the caution in considering that a person of your age is dangerous, I have no hesitation in concluding that you are dangerous,” added the judge.

DCI Ian Screw said: “This was an extremely complicated case which had many moving parts. The Stockport CID investigation team carried out the investigation and their hard work meant we were able to obtain these results and see these individuals brought to justice for their actions. participation in violent and criminal activities that caused fear in the community.

“The message is clear: if you commit crimes in Greater Manchester, we will locate you, arrest and charge you, and build a case to support prosecution. Guns have no place in Stockport.”