Court hears rap allegedly performed by a Sheffield man in custody accused of attempted murder

Sheffield Crown Court heard today, August 14, how Stephen Dunford, aged 25, of Fellbrigg Road, Sheffield, and Devon Gregory, 23, of Heeley Green, Sheffield, had allegedly been armed with guns in a Ford Focus said to have passed a 12-year-old boy as he was shot in the thigh.

Stephen Wood QC, prosecuting, told the trial the 12-year-old complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been meeting friends on Northern Avenue, Arbourthorne, at about 3.30pm on January 12 when he was shot but he may not have been the intended target.

Mr Wood said the complainant’s father believed he heard Dunford on social media doing a rap via a phone on Facebook about the shooting while he was in custody after his arrest.

The gangster-style rap states: “How many times did I jump the whip, empty the clip?”

It says someone with ‘the 357 nearly took man’s block off’ and adds: “I was trying to turn man’s hoody into a vest top.”

It also states: “If I don’t bust case, it’s life in the can.”

Mr Wood claimed Dunford is singing and referring to the shooting, a recovered .357 calibre bullet and to one of the shots which put a hole in the jacket of one of the complainant’s friends.

Mr Wood claimed the shotgun was found at a flat with DNA traces of a third defendant, Brandon Bailey, 26, of Manor Park Way, Manor Park, Sheffield, but Bailey is not believed to have been in the car during the alleged shooting.

However, police recovered £19,970 from Bailey’s home, according to Mr Wood, which is believed to be from crime.

Dunford is also accused of being involved in a shooting on Northcote Avenue, Meersbrook, where a bullet was found in a vehicle.

Dunford and Gregory deny attempted murder and deny possessing a firearm to endanger life. Dunford denies a further charge of possessing a firearm to endanger life.

Dunford, Gregory and Bailey also deny conspiracy to endanger life and Bailey denies possessing criminal property.