Woman sentenced for helping Washington gunman

Michelle Wrightson provided John Dees with a set of hair clippers

A woman who aided a gunman after he fled the scene of a shooting has been handed a suspended sentence.

Michelle Wrightson helped John Dees cut his hair and alter the colour of his car after he shot a man in a Washington street in October 2019.

At an earlier hearing at Newcastle Crown Court Wrightson, 38, of Gill Crescent South, Fencehouses, admitted assisting an offender.

She has now been sentenced to 22 months, suspended for two years.

Dees, who was later jailed for attempted murder, fired at his victim, with whom he had been involved in a dispute, on a "bustling" street during daytime.

John Dees was jailed for 21 years after pleading guilty to attempted murder

He then paid a visit to Wrightson who provided him with a set of clippers that he used to shave off his hair and beard.

The pair also attempted to cover Dees' tracks by removing his car's metallic black wrap and peeling off vinyl stickers which they threw in the bin.

Det Sgt Steven Brown, from Northumbria Police, said Wrightson had "willingly assisted" Dees after he carried out his "appalling offence".