Father, 50, ‘died in gun and acid
revenge attack’

A FATHER DIED from organ failure after he was shot in the leg and doused in strong sulphuric acid during an early hours attack on his home, a court heard.
Bradford Crown CourtBradford Crown Court
Bradford Crown Court

Barry Selby, 50, died in hospital last October four days after a group of men forced their way into his family home on Rayleigh Street, East Bowling, Bradford.

Four men went on trial at Bradford Crown Court yesterday 
accused of murdering Mr Selby, whose son Liam had allegedly been involved in a series of earlier incidents between two groups 
of men on the Holme Wood estate.

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The jury heard that about six months before the alleged murder the Selbys’ previous home at Hartland Road, Holme Wood, had also been attacked, forcing the family to move away to East Bowling.

Prosecutor Simon Myerson QC outlined details of a series of violent incidents between the two groups leading up to the attack on Mr Selby and he suggested that it had been “an act of revenge or retaliation” against Liam Selby and his associates.

Mr Myerson told the court how four hours before Barry Selby was attacked a group of masked men had fired shots at the Holme Wood home of a family of six who were friends with his son Liam.

At about 2am the following morning a group of males arrived at the Selbys’ home in a Mitsubishi truck-style vehicle and smashed open the front door.

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Mr Myerson said at least three men went inside and during the attack Mr Selby, who was only wearing boxer shorts, was shot in the left leg and sprayed with the acid.

“It is what is colloquially known as a kneecapping,” Mr Myerson told the jury. “They then doused his back from head to foot with acid.”

Mr Selby’s wife Donna, who had crouched between a bed and the wall, claimed to have identified one of the intruders as Lee Calvert because of his “distinctive eyes” and the visible part of his face, the court heard.

The couple’s daughter Jade was in her bedroom when she heard a couple of bangs and Mr Myerson said one of the men threw some liquid at her or her barking dog but it did not make contact.

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When police and paramedics arrived at the scene they noticed a sulphurous smell. Because they did not know the exact type of acid the paramedics were unable to wash it away and just had to watch as it burned into Mr Selby’s back.

Mr Selby was taken to the specialist burns unit at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield with 50 per cent burns to the back of his scalp, his neck, his upper and lower back, the back of his thighs and the back of his lower leg.

Mr Myerson said Mr Selby’s system was unable to cope with the acid burns and his heart and kidneys were affected. He said it was similar to battery acid.

Calvert, 23, of Stirling Crescent, Holme Wood, has denied murdering Mr Selby along with Joseph Lowther, 22, of Copgrove Road, Holme Wood; Robert Woodhead, 28, of Fred’s Place, Tyersal, and 23-year-old Andrew Feather, of no fixed address.

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The four men have also pleaded not guilty to charges of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of a firearm intending to cause fear of violence in relation to the earlier shooting incident at the house on Farway, Holme Wood.

Calvert’s then girlfriend Natasha Wall, 24, of Stirling Crescent, has denied perverting the course of justice.

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