Man jailed for shooting that left a boy, 13, paralysed

Louis Clarke was jailed for attempted murder and possession of a firearm

A fourth man has been jailed for a shooting that paralysed a 13-year-old boy.

Louis Clarke, 19, was involved when gunshots were fired at the victim in the Hockley Circus underpass in Birmingham in November 2021.

Three other men were sentenced to life in prison last year.

Clarke was jailed for attempted murder and possession of a firearm and will serve a minimum of 15 years and four months.

The boy was walking with his friends to get food when he was attacked, West Midlands Police said.

CCTV evidence showed a car travelling along the A41 before stopping abruptly in a service road.

The 13-year-old boy and his friends were then chased into the underpass and within seconds a homemade weapon, known as a slam gun, was fired, hitting the boy in the back and leaving him paralysed.

'Strong like a lion'

At the sentencing of Zidann Edwards, Diago Anderson and Tafique Thomas in 2022, the victim's mother called the attackers "cowards".

"They just ran him down and shot my 13-year-old in his back, like he was nothing.

"But my son is strong, strong like a lion and no weapon formed against him will ever prosper."

A handgun recovered by police and believed to be involved in the shooting, was linked to Thomas' address

Despite his injuries, the boy called 999 to tell the ambulance service he'd been injured, police said.

Det Insp Michelle Cordell said: "The unprovoked and callous actions of all of these young men has changed the life of an innocent boy forever.

"The events of that evening are simply heart-breaking - it did not need to happen and I am deeply saddened by the fear the young boy must have felt before being so seriously injured."