Gangland shooting teen Javarni Cato has sentence increased

Javarni Cato, 17, targeted two young girls who escaped uninjured and hurt a taxi driver in the drive-by shootings

A 17-year-old boy detained for a spate of gangland shootings in Huddersfield has had his sentenced increased.

Javarni Cato, from Birmingham, targeted two young girls who escaped uninjured and hurt a taxi driver in the drive-by shootings last July, police said.

In February, he was sent to a young offenders institute for five years and four months after admitting firearms and drug offences.

But the Court of Appeal raised his term to nine years because it was "too low".

West Yorkshire Police said Cato, of Netherhouse Close, Kingstanding, first fired at the girls on 22 July on Dalton Fold Road before seriously injuring the taxi driver five days later.

Four men were getting out of the taxi in Holays when shots were fired towards them from a passing vehicle, officers said.

The Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC MP, said he was "pleased" appeal judges had "agreed with me that this sentence was too low".

"Gang-related crimes are serious offences, especially when firearms are involved, and a longer sentence more accurately reflects the damage that Cato's actions have had on individuals and the wider community."

Det Ch Insp Jaz Khan, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "This nine-year sentence demonstrates to the communities of Kirklees how seriously we take firearms offences and that we will bring offenders to justice.

"It should be a warning to those who carry weapons with the intent to cause fear, that we will do everything within our power to detect those responsible and bring them to justice."