Salford mum and son shot in botched 'gangland hit'

Eight men are on trial at Manchester Crown Court over the shootings

A seven-year-old boy and his mother were shot on their doorstep in a bungled gangland hit on his father, a court has heard.

Christian Hickey and mum Jayne were blasted in the legs in Salford with a handgun that was used in another gang shooting six months earlier.

The prosecution told the jury the plan was to kill the intended target Chris Hickey "but something went wrong".

Eight men are on trial over the shootings at Manchester Crown Court.

'Trading violent attacks'

Prosecutor Paul Greaney QC, opening the case, told the jury: "Both mother and son had been shot in the legs, causing serious injuries, and both required extensive hospital treatment, but survived.

"What happened that night was a plan to kill; in all probability Chris Hickey was the target, but something went wrong."

Mr Hickey is a friend of Salford gang leader Michael Carroll, the jury heard, who was trading violent attacks with another gang, the A-Team, led by Stephen Britton.

At about 21:30 GMT on 12 October 2015 Mr Hickey was at home with his wife and son, Mr Greaney told the jury, when there was a knock at the window.

Mrs Hickey went to the door and opened it with her son behind her.

He said a man asked "Is your husband in?"

Mrs Hickey replied: "One sec."

The court heard the shooting was part of a feud between two rival gangs

Mr Greaney told the court a second man then appeared armed with a gun, the same Heckler & Koch self-loading pistol used to shoot Jamie Rothwell at a car wash in Ashton-in-Makerfield, near Wigan on 30 March 2015.

The second man started shooting, the jury was told, and Mrs Hickey slammed the door.

Mr Greaney said she then saw Christian had been shot and realised she had been injured, too.

Mrs Hickey later identified the man she spoke to as Carne Thomasson, a member of the A-Team gang arrested with Mr Britton and others with a loaded handgun in Spain in 2016.

Mr Thomasson, 28, Christopher Hall, 49, Aldaire Warmington, 32, and John Thomasson, 49, all deny conspiracy to murder and perverting the course of justice.

James Coward, 22, Dominic Walton, 26, and Lincoln Warmington, 32, deny perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of an Audi car after the Hickeys' shooting.

Jacob Harrison, 26, has admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm to Mr Rothwell over the car wash shooting.

John Kent, 54, denies the same charge and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice for over the shooting of Mr Rothwell.

Mr Big 'execution'

The court heard that between February 2015 and the Hickeys' shooting, a linked series of violent incidents including shootings and stabbings between the two gangs took place in the north west of England, centred in Salford.

This included the murder of Paul "Mr Big" Massey, who was a "mentor" to Mr Britton, on his doorstep in July of that year.

Giving gunman Mark Fellows a whole-life sentence earlier this month, Mr Justice Davis described it as an "execution, pure and simple".

Mr Greaney alleged all eight defendants were involved in at least one of the two attacks, carried out by the A-Team on their rivals.

The trial continues.