Sheffield drive-by shootings: Joshua Mottershead jailed

Children were inside at both addresses that were shot at in June 2020

A man linked to two drive-by shootings after he botched an attempt to fake his identity has been jailed.

Joshua Mottershead, 22, used a fake name but his real address and date of birth to buy a car used in the attacks.

Sheffield Crown Court heard it was "miraculous" no-one was hurt in the shootings, including a baby sleeping beneath a window shattered by a bullet.

Mottershead was found guilty of a firearms offence and sentenced to 12 years.

He was sentenced alongside Demi Dunford, 25, and Molly Mayer, 23, who had admitted offences linked to the shootings.

Police were called to the attacks, in the Arbourthorne area of Sheffield, on the evening of 30 June 2020.

Reports of gunfire in Aylward Road came just one minute after shots were fired at a house on Errington Avenue.

Drive-by accused guilty of firearms charge

Dunford was seen filling a jerry can at a local petrol station while the shootings were taking place, then proceeded to a rendezvous where the fuel was used in a bid to destroy the car

Mottershead, of St Aiden's Avenue in Sheffield, was sentenced to 12 years after being found guilty of conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Molly Mayer (L) and Demi Dunsford (R) both pleaded guilty of perverting the course of justice

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Dunford, of Derby Street in Sheffield, pleaded guilty at a hearing in November to perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 20 months - plus eight months consecutively - for possession of 32 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine.

Mayer, of Callow Drive in Sheffield, also admitted perverting the course of justice in November and was jailed for 12 months.

After Friday's sentencing hearing, Det Supt Paul Murphy, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "Incidents like these are not acceptable. People were left in fear of their life by what happened and it caused real unrest in the local community. It was miraculous that nobody was injured.

"We are taking robust action to tackle organised crime across South Yorkshire and hitting the root cause, such as the supply of drugs, hard."