"Hurry up and reload and blow his head off" - Sheffield drive-by shooting trial latest

The boy told police he recognised accused Stephen Dunford's voice after a shotgun and a handgun were fired from a white Ford Focus containing five people, but he couldn't see their faces because they were wearing balaclavas.

The boy was hit in the left thigh, dropped off his bike and ran around the back of the shop, where he screamed, "I have been shot."

He described how pieces of brickwork were flying about and a shotgun shell passed him, Sheffield Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

An older boy carried him home after the incident on Northern Avenue, Arbourthorne, at around 3.20pm, on January 12.

Detective Constable Gareth Rees interviewed the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at Sheffield Children's Hospital, shortly after he was brought in for treatment.

But after identifying Dunford’s voice, the boy "quickly backtracked" and said, "I am not 100 percent sure of this," the officer read from his notebook.

His demeanour was calm, considering the injury he sustained, the doctor who treated him said in a statement.

Dunford, aged 25, of Fellbrigg Road, Arbourthorne, Sheffield, and Devon Gregory, 23, of Heeley Green, Heeley, Sheffield, deny attempted murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. Dunford has also denied a further charge of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Stephen Wood QC, prosecuting, previously told the trial that the complainant’s father believed he heard Dunford on social media doing a rap about the shooting, which refers to 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.

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

A third defendant, Brandon Bailey, aged 26, of Manor Park Way, Manor Park, Sheffield, denies conspiracy to endanger life and possessing criminal property, but the prosecution does not say he was in the car.

The trial continues.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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