Two men have been handed lengthy prison sentences following a brazen drive-by shooting on a busy Black Country high street, an attack that left a man with serious shotgun injuries.
Broad Daylight Attack on High Street
The violent incident occurred in broad daylight around 11.30am on 1 May last year. A black Vauxhall Mokka pulled up alongside a white VW Golf, which was waiting to turn right at the junction of Trinity Way and West Bromwich High Street.
From the Mokka, the driver fired two shots at the Golf. The first bullet missed its target, but the second shattered the rear windscreen of the victim's vehicle.
Complex Investigation and Arrests
The victim, a man in his 20s, managed to drive away from the scene and presented himself at the Midland Met Hospital a short time later. He was treated for shotgun injuries to his shoulder and the back of his head and, fortunately, survived the attack.
West Midlands Police's Major Crime Unit (MCU) launched an intensive investigation, trawling through hours of CCTV footage to piece together the events leading up to and following the shooting. Their work identified the suspects and the vehicles involved.
Investigators established that Adyan Hussain, 22, of Salisbury Road, West Bromwich, was driving the Mokka and fired the shots. The probe revealed that around 30 minutes before the attack, he was dropped off on Leopard Lane, West Bromwich, by Naveed Hussain, also 22, of Ida Road, West Bromwich.
Adyan Hussain then took possession of the Mokka, changing its number plates just before the shooting. After the attack, he abandoned the car in Oldbury. Both men collected it the next day and changed the plates for a second time in an attempt to evade detection.
Sentencing and Police Statement
At a hearing in November, Adyan Hussain admitted possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. He was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison.
Naveed Hussain pleaded guilty to assisting an offender and was sentenced to four years in prison at a hearing on Friday, 9 January.
Detective Inspector Francis Nock, from the Major Crime Unit Reactive Team, said: “This was a violent attack on a busy High Street, which left a man seriously injured and could easily have killed him. We have not been able to establish a motive for this attack, and it’s worrying that those involved felt they could use such violence on the streets of the West Midlands.”
He added: “Guns have no place on the streets of the West Midlands, and our detectives and firearms officers work closely with local policing officers to build a picture of those involved in gun crime so that we can take them off the streets and put them behind bars.”
The case was pursued under Operation Target, the force's initiative to tackle serious and organised crime across the region.
