Trio of gunmen jailed for Wolverhampton playground shooting which injured two children

Watch the moment all three men were arrested by West Midlands Police

Three men have been jailed for a combined total of 69 years after a drive-by shooting near a playground in Wolverhampton which injured two children.

Kian Durnin, 22, Martinho De-Sousa, 24, and 23-year-old Tireq McIntosh have all been jailed for 23 years for attempted murder.

The men were found guilty of attempted murder at a trial earlier this month.

The jury was told an 11-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy suffered gunshot wounds after they were caught in the crossfire of what police believe to have been a "violent feud" between two rival gangs.

The three men were in a stolen Ford Focus and firing at the occupants of a stolen Mini Cooper.

The playground, near Shelley Road, was described as being "right in the line of fire".

The girl's mum told the court how she rushed to the playground after she heard her daughter had been shot, describing how she "saw the hole in her leg".

The court heard that the 15-year-old boy was riding his bike in the playground car park when he was also shot in the leg.

Detective Inspector Francis Nock, from West Midlands Police, said: "At least six shots were fired and it’s by sheer luck that these two children weren’t more seriously injured or killed. 

"Thankfully, they have both made recoveries from their physical wounds, but this has left their families shattered.

"We may never know who the intended targets were, or why the shooting happened, but we believe it involved tensions between gangs in the Wolverhampton area, and may be connected to illegal drugs."

He added: "This was a cowardly attack by men who had no hesitation in firing deadly guns next to a children’s playground."

In addition, all three men were sentenced to 18 months each for aggravated vehicle taking, to be served concurrently.

Durnin was also handed a concurrent two-month sentence for handling stolen goods as part of a separate incident.