Gunman Joshua Mottershead jailed after firing shot into room where baby slept in Sheffield

A gunman who fired a shot into a room in Sheffield where a baby was asleep in a pram has been jailed.

Joshua Mottershead carried out two drive-by shootings a minute apart in the Arbourthorne area of the city on the evening of 30 June, 2020.

Police first received reports of bullets being fired through the windows of a property on Errington Avenue.

Within a minute officers were called to nearby Aylward Road where more shots had been discharged.

Sheffield Crown Court heard there were children inside both properties. At the second address a baby who was asleep in a pram below the window was showered with glass.

Det Supt Paul Murphy, head of the South Yorkshire Police armed crime team, said the occupiers of the houses were "innocent families...caught up in a dispute about organised criminality".

He said: "People were left in fear of their life by what happened and it caused real unrest in the local community. It was miraculous that nobody was injured."

Mottershead, 22, had given a a fake name to buy the car used in the incidents but used his real address and date of birth.

The car, bought via social media a few days earlier, was later found burned out.

Mottershead, of St Aiden’s Avenue, was jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Demi Dunford, 25, of Derby Street, Sheffield, admitted perverting the course of justice, for her role in the car being burned out.

CCTV had captured her using taxis to visit a petrol station where she filled a jerry can with fuel.

Dunford was jailed for 20 months and a further eight months for possession of heroin.

Molly Mayer, 23 of Callow Drive, Sheffield, was given an 18-month sentence after admitting perverting the course of justice.

Det Supt Murphy added: "We are taking robust action to tackle organised crime across South Yorkshire and hitting the root cause, such as the supply of drugs, hard."