'LET BATTLE COMMENCE'

SINISTER TEXT OF GUNMAN AS THREE ARE JAILED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER OF BOY, 16, IN GANGLAND FEUD

- ANDREW BARDSLEY

THREE men have been handed jail sentences totalling almost 100 years after a teenager was shot in the street amidst feuding in Salford.

The 16-year-old boy, who was airlifted to hospital following the shooting in Eccles on Mother’s Day last year, could ‘easily’ have died, a judge said.

Gunman Kyle Meighan, 31, Aiden Broadhurst, 29, who drove the shooter to the scene on a motorbike, and Jieh Sufyaan, 25, who was not present but sourced the gun, were all jailed for 32 years after being found guilty of attempted murder.

Manchester Crown Court heard that the teenager was blasted following ‘hostilities’ between two rival groups, which had been ongoing for months and involved tit-for-tat acts of criminal damage. 

Their rival faction had engaged in ‘provocative behaviour’ by riding motorbikes, the court was told, while following an alleged arson attack involving a car, Meighan texted a friend to say: “Let battle commence.”

The teenager was spotted on the afternoon of Sunday, March 19, last year. Prosecutors said that within 40 minutes of him being seen on their estate in Eccles, the gun, a blank firing pistol which had been converted to fire live rounds, and a motorbike on cloned plates were sourced. Meighan was driven by Broadhurst who caught up with the teen, who was also on a motorcycle, before two shots were fired.