Gunman who blasted victim in stomach is jailed for 17 years

Victim Christopher Wright had gone to answer a knock at his door when he was shot at close range and was left holding his intestines in. He only survived because of the skill of the medical team and surgeons at Leeds General Infirmary. He spent six weeks in hospital and still faces further surgery.

Jailing attacker Dwayne Mitcham at Leeds Crown Court yesterday, Mr Justice Ramsey said he did not even know Mr Wright and appeared to have an obsession with guns.

He ordered him to serve a minimum of 17 years but warned he would only be released when no longer considered a danger.

Mitcham, 26, of Ryan Place, Leeds, was convicted by a jury of attempting to murder Mr Wright on April 6, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate.

The jury heard Mr Wright's son Daniel, 19, had earlier that evening smashed the window of a Vauxhall Corsa car driven by James Rushworth in which Conor Ratcliffe was a passenger.

Ratcliffe had informed Ryan Coleman who had a "financial interest" in the car, and Coleman in turn recruited Mitcham to go with a group to "beat up" Daniel Wright.

But the judge said Mitcham had a different idea. "You armed yourself with a sawn-off shotgun which you concealed. When this group arrived at the house you created a situation which was everyone's nightmare."

Daniel Wright's parents were watching TV at their home in Red Hall Chase, Whinmoor, Leeds, when his father went to answer a knock on the door.

"Without any warning you opened the door and discharged the shotgun at him at point blank range. He suffered horrific injuries to his stomach and but for the intervention of medical staff and the skill of surgeons they would have caused his death.

"You knew neither Daniel nor Christopher Wright, had no grudge against either of them but in cold blood you shot the first person who came to the door."

The judge said Mitcham appeared to have an obsession with guns, having received three-and-a-half years in a young offender institution in 2003 for possessing an imitation gun, in a case involving a shotgun, and more ammunition was found after his arrest on April 28.

Mitcham also had two previous convictions for robbery and one for carrying a knife in public.

He clearly posed a danger to the public and "the use of a gun to impose gratuitous violence on an innocent person without any reason is clear evidence of that risk", said the judge

Coleman, Ratcliffe and Rushworth are all awaiting sentence for conspiracy to assault Daniel Wright.

After the case victim Mr Wright thanked the medical team who saved his life and the police and legal team for their professional handling of the inquiry and trial. He has already had seven operations and faces more.

Det Chief Insp Simon Bottomley said: "The conviction and sentence of Dwayne Mitcham ensures that a very dangerous man is taken off the streets of Leeds and no longer poses a threat to the local communities in which he operated."

He thanked witnesses who attended court under difficult circumstances adding: "It is only by sheer good fortune that Christopher Wright is still alive."