Three jailed after shots fired in busy town centre

Cole Brooke (left), Marshall Wilkinson (centre) and Morgan Rowley (right) were jailed at Leeds Crown Court on Monday

Three men have been jailed after shots were fired in a town centre on a busy Friday night.

Cole Brooke, 22, from Huddersfield, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence after the incident on Dunford Road in Holmfirth on 16 February 2024.

Marshall Wilkinson, 21, and Morgan Rowley, 25, both of Meltham, were found guilty of the same offence and jailed for two years after a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Two other men, Cameron Rowley, 24, of Holmfirth, and Louis Morgan, 24, of Honley, received two-year suspended sentences after being found guilty of assisting an offender.

West Yorkshire Police said the disorder unfolded when a car containing five people, including Brooke, pulled up alongside Rowley and Wilkinson at about 21:45 GMT.

An "altercation" then took place which resulted in Rowley and Wilkinson chasing the occupants of the car down the road, with one brandishing a machete and the other a gun, which was fired.

Brooke also had a gun which he fired towards Rowley and Wilkinson. The bullet "luckily" hit a nearby building and no-one was injured, police said.

Police said it was lucky nobody was injured as the shots were fired on a Friday night in Holmfirth town centre

Alongside his conviction for possessing a firearm, Brooke, of Manor Street, Huddersfield, who pleaded guilty at the start of his trial, was also sentenced to 18 months in prison for violent disorder, to be served concurrently.

Wilkinson, of Broadlands Road, Meltham, and Rowley, of Poppy Gardens, Meltham, were both given additional 18-month sentences for violent disorder, to be served concurrently.

Rowley was also given a 12-month sentence for possession of a bladed article, also to be served concurrently. He had already admitted violent disorder and threatening another with a blade at the start of the trial.

Speaking after sentencing, Det Con Amy Hirst said: "Wilkinson and Morgan Rowley were responsible for a serious incident where a gun was fired.

"It was a busy Friday night in Holmfirth with innocent bystanders out enjoying themselves.

"It's fortunate for this pair that nobody was injured, but the outcome could have easily resulted in someone being seriously harmed or even killed."

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