A MAN who blasted shotgun cartridges at a family home in Coventry − shattering the front door and window − has been jailed for nearly 10 years after West Midlands Police proved he was the shooter.
Genghis Khan opened fire at the house in Lauderdale Avenue in the early hours of May 10 last year − and the following month discharged a sawn-off shotgun at a vehicle parked outside the address.
The home was unoccupied at the time of the shooting and no-one was hurt.
Enquiries by detectives uncovered a neighbourhood dispute involving Khan and on June 10 − two days after the car shooting − officers raided his home in Towpath Close.
A loaded sawn-off shotgun and bulletproof vest were stashed under the 26-year-old’s bed, while a house search also uncovered 36 shotgun cartridges, a Citroen car key and number plates officers traced to a Citroen C3 on a Swansea showroom forecourt.
CCTV seized by police showed a white Citroen drive past the Lauderdale Avenue address at the time of the June 8 shooting − and five days later a stolen C3 was found abandoned in Sutton Stop, Longford, which was started by the key found in Khan’s home.
Examination of his phone revealed photos of Khan posing with a sawn-off shotgun and several incriminating text messages, including one sent just 27 minutes after the car shooting simply saying “done”.
And ballistics experts at NABIS were able to match spent cartridge shells recovered from the shooting to cartridges found in a cupboard in Khan’s home, including two loaded in the barrel.
Khan admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and drugs supply after cocaine valued at £9,000 was also found at his home − and at Warwick Justice Centre on Friday (April 28) he was jailed for a total of nine years and four months.
Detective Constable Steve Phillips from West Midlands Police Force CID, said: “Quite what the dispute was about is unclear − but whatever the issue there can never be any justification for recklessly discharging a firearm in public.
“We quickly identified Khan as a suspect and amassed a catalogue of evidence against him.
“In one of the SMS messages we found on his phone he boasted about being “strapped” − street slang for having a gun − and that he was “locked and loaded”.
“He went to considerable lengths preparing for the shooting: he used a white, stolen Citroen C3 to commit the offence and travelled all the way to a showroom in Swansea to steal number plates to an identical car. We found evidence on his phone that he’d searched the internet to find a perfect match.
“Thankfully no-one was hurt in the shootings − but despite that he’s been handed a jail term approaching 10 years. That shows how seriously firearm discharges in public are viewed and should send out a powerful message that this type of intimidating behaviour won’t be tolerated.”
