Gang jailed for paralysing boy, 13, with homemade gun for 'straying on their turf'

Three gangsters who shot a 13-year-old boy in the spine with a homemade shotgun and left him paralysed in an "unprovoked" attack have been jailed for life.

Tafique Thomas, 17, and Zidann Edwards and Diago Anderson, both 20, gunned down the schoolboy after he "strayed onto their turf" in Birmingham.

The victim and his friends were on their way to get food when he was attacked in an underpass at Hockley Circus on November 18 last year.

CCTV showed a stolen Nissan screeching up alongside the boys before Edwards, Anderson and Thomas got out and chased them into an underpass.

The victim was blasted in the back with a homemade shotgun, known as a slam gun, and the trio were caught on camera running from the scene and driving off.

Edwards later went on to make a drill rap music video expressing his regret that he failed to kill the young boy, who aparently entered the territory of a gang known as Armed Response.

Despite his injuries, the victim managed to call 999 despite his injuries, and firearms officers provided lifesaving first aid before paramedics rushed him to hospital.

The court heard the boy has been left paraplegic as a result of one of the pellets passing through his spinal cord.

Police later recovered the Nissan and forensically linked it to the suspects and arrested them - subsequently uncovering more evidence including the clothes they wore on the day of the shooting and several phones.

Investigators also recovered a handgun and a slam gun from an address linked to Thomas and further examination helped prove this was the weapon used in the attack.

All three were convicted of attempted murder at Birmingham Crown Court in August and were jailed for life on Friday.

As a minor, Thomas was initially granted anonymity by default, but he can now be identified after the judge decided reporting restrictions should be lifted.

He was also found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of a prohibited weapon.

Edwards was jailed for a minimum of 17 years, Anderson for a minimum of 18 years and Thomas for a minimum of 16 years and eight months.

Following the case, the mum of the paralysed teen said: “These cowards didn’t even ask my son a simple question, they just ran him down and shot my 13-year-old in his back, like he was nothing.

“But my son is strong, strong like a lion and no weapon formed against him will ever prosper.”

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Detective inspector Michelle Cordell said: “The unprovoked and callous actions these three young men has changed the life of an innocent boy forever.

“The events of that evening are simply heart breaking – it did not need to happen and I am deeply saddened by the fear the young boy must have felt before being so seriously injured.

“Gun crime is so damaging, there are never any winners. I hope the outcome today sends a really clear message to anyone engaging in gang or gun crime.

“While no sentence can ever change the tragic events of that day, I hope that it provides some comfort to the boy and his family as they continue to rebuild their lives.”