Dad-of-six paid £500 to drive 'dangerous gunman Slim' to Thornaby to shoot at home in gang war

Jack Walker was sentenced to a total of 12 years and six months in prison at Teesside Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and assisting an offender. The Audi used in the incident was located burnt out in Billingham
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A dad-of-six was pressured into driving a gunman up to Teesside to shoot at a Thornaby home.

Jack Walker drove an unidentified shooter called "Slim" to Thornaby, and travelled with him to Staindrop, where two separate houses were shot at, in what is believed to be a part of serious gang warfare. Teesside Crown Court has heard that the 30-year-old did not know why he was driving Slim up to the north, until he got onto the motorway.

"Slim" shot at the front door of a house in Staindrop, County Durham, in March as a mother was at home in the kitchen and her young son was upstairs. In a separate journey weeks later, he shot at a window and wall of a family home in Thornaby, after the residents refused to come out of their house.

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During the Teesside shooting, Walker waited until Slim had got back into the stolen Audi he was given to drive, before speeding off. A modified self-loading pistol was found by police, at a house in Northamptonshire, in May - a month after the last shooting.

Firearms experts confirmed it had been used in the Thornaby shooting. Walker was arrested on April 22, 2024, after police found footage showing him driving behind the Audi, in his partner's Ford Fiesta, which was registered to their home address.

On Thursday, Walker, of Kingfisher, Ecton Lane in Northampton, appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty to the possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life; and to assisting an offender.

Walker was also in breach of suspended prison sentences he was given in February, for a drugs offence and dangerous driving. He says he does not know Slim's real name, and has refused to give any information to identify Slim, for fear of reprisals.

Walker's barrister, Victoria Smith-Swain, said that her client struggled to pay off £3,500 of drugs debt he had run up, when he lost his driving licence and then his job, after being convicted of the dangerous driving offence. Ms Smith-Swain said that Walker agreed to make the journey, "...out of fear. He did not want to get involved, but he did not feel he had any other choice."

She said that he is not part of a criminal gang, and that he did not know why he was travelling with Slim, in a Skoda, to Durham. The front door of a house in Staindrop, County Durham, was shot at on the night of Friday, March 29. at 9.15pm.

The gunman shot three bullets into the front door - one went into a vacuum cleaner; another into the door of a storage cupboard in the hallway. The woman who lives there was in the kitchen and her young son was playing upstairs.

She told police that she "dropped to the floor in fear and shouted upstairs to her son 'get down and get away from the windows'."

The Skoda that had been driven to County Durham, was later found abandoned in Stockton. There was a live hand grenade in the boot.

Police on Shetland Avenue after the shooting
Police on Shetland Avenue after the shooting -Credit:Terry Blackburn

A second house, on Shetland Avenue in Thornaby, was shot at on Friday, April 12. CCTV captured the sound of the two shots and a car, with a false number plate, speeding away seconds afterwards.

Bullet holes were left in a window and a wall, under the television in the living room.

Shetland Avenue in Thornaby
Shetland Avenue in Thornaby -Credit:Terry Blackburn

Slim had initially tried to lure the occupants of the house outside, the CCTV footage picked up some arguing and the family remained inside, before the shots were fired, Teesside Crown Court heard. The residents of the home refused to co-operate with the police.

No one was injured in either shooting. The stolen black Audi A3 was found burnt-out on Keswick Road in Billingham at 10pm that night, 15 minutes after the shooting.

CCTV shows the two men getting out of the Audi before Slim set it alight. Walker had left his partner's Ford Focus nearby, and he drove Slim back to Northamptonshire.

A bullet lies in the road at Shetland Avenue in Thornaby on Friday April 12
A bullet lies in the road at Shetland Avenue in Thornaby on Friday April 12 -Credit:Terry Blackburn

After driving up to the north in his Ford Focus, "in convoy with the Audi," Sam Faulks, prosecuting, said that Walker swapped into the driver's seat of the Audi, and that he wore gloves as he drove. Walker's defence barrister told the court that her client, who is dad to four step-children and to two of his own children, "has been struggling in prison. He has witnessed stabbings and hot sugar water thrown into someone's face. He is showing symptoms of PTSD."

Ms Smith-Swain said that Walker began using cannabis and then cocaine whilst he was a student at Nottingham Trent University. He left before completing his final year of study of his Sports and Psychology degree. Walker was taken into prison on remand before his youngest child was born.

"The psychologist's report has found that he is abnormally compliant. He was bullied as a child, and avoids confrontation," Ms Smith-Swain said, "there is no suggestion that he is part of the sophisticated criminal gang involved in these shootings. The prosecution and the defence agree that Mr Walker is a vulnerable individual.

"He recognises that he should not have taken Slim to the North-east. He responded to pressure and exploitation of him by someone who is known to be a very dangerous criminal."

'£500 for participation'

Judge Francis Laird told Walker, who stood in the dock wearing a cream jumper: "The police investigation found automatic number plate recognition and mobile phone cell-site evidence that proved you travelled from Northamptonshire to Teesside on both occasions.

"You have pleaded guilty on the basis that you assisted Slim due to threats and fear. The psychologist's report finds that you are unusually compliant and I take this into account.

"On the journey where you drove him to Teesside, you were told of the plan to shoot at a home in Thornaby. You received £500 for your participation.

"These are two highly sophisticated and serious criminal acts involving the deliberate discharge of firearms into occupied dwellings. It was good fortune, and nothing else, that no one was killed or seriously injured." Walker was handed a 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Police reaction

Temporary Detective Sergeant Rob Griffiths said: “These incidents clearly took a great deal of planning with dangerous weapons and stolen vehicles being sourced, along with measures to try to evade detection. The extensive investigation resulted in identifying those suspected to be involved, stolen vehicles recovered and prohibited weapons recovered and destroyed.

“Firearms are extremely dangerous weapons which can clearly cause serious harm or worse, death, and it was only by luck on both occasions that someone wasn’t seriously hurt. Today’s sentencing is welcomed and reflects the severity of the incidents and highlights the consequences of being in possession of a firearm. Jack Walker will spend a number of years reflecting on his actions and I would encourage others who are involved in such criminality to consider the consequences of engaging in it.

“The impact of these incidents extends beyond the victims and the effects are felt on whole communities. I hope today's sentencing provides reassurance to those communities and sends a clear message to those who commit such serious and dangerous offences that we will thoroughly investigate and bring those responsible to justice.”

Detective Constable Victoria Patrickson, said: “These two incidents saw a dangerous gunman attend residential addresses in both Durham and Cleveland. On the first occasion the bullets passed straight through the front door with one bullet was found lodged in a vacuum cleaner and another found wedged in an internal wall.

“On the second occasion two rounds of ammunition were again fired into a residential property, where a bullet was recovered from the media wall in the living room. The investigation team have successfully brought a dangerous offender to justice. Let this be a warning to others that the criminal use of firearms will not be tolerated.”

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