Drug dealer shot man in the head after pointing gun at him 'as a joke'
A convicted drug dealer told a court he shot dead an addict accidentally after pointing a gun at him 'as a joke'. Shay Walker, 26, was found not guilty of murdering of Peter Hale - who died aged 50 on February 4 this year, four days after suffering a single gunshot wound inside his own home - following a trial.
Walker was said to have told Mr Hale and his brother 'I have brought this for yous, you c**ts' as he produced a pistol. A court heard the brother were customers of Walker, who admitted being the gunman, but claimed that he 'didn't think the gun was loaded'.
Walker was unanimously found not guilty of murder by a jury of six men and six women following a trial in July, as well as a lesser count of manslaughter and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, following six hours and three minutes of deliberations.
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The convicted drug dealer, who was spared prison just months earlier, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of ammunition without a certificate. He was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.
Mr Hale was shot in the living room of his own home on Haslingden Close in Old Swan, Liverpool. The sentencing judge said his death was a 'tragic loss'.
Nick Johnson KC previously told the court during the prosecution's opening that Mr Hale's brother, Anthony Hale, called 999 shortly before 4.30pm on January 29 this year, adding: "Anthony Hale was in a bit of a state. He had just witnessed his brother Peter being shot in the head, through his left eyebrow. The shooting happened in his own living room.
"Peter, the brother who was shot, was 50 years old when he died. Both brothers lived together at that address and both were drug addicts. The gunman was the man in the dock. The defendant, Shay Walker. Shay Walker had gone round to the Hales' address with a loaded gun. Shay Walker is a drug dealer. Both of the Hale brothers were customers of Mr Walker's, and they dealt drugs on his behalf. They were a bit like employees of Mr Walker.
"They would smoke crack cocaine and sell drugs for Mr Walker. On this particular day, Peter and Anthony Hale owed Shay Walker £500 which was due. They did not pay, because they did not have the means to pay. What made it worse was that they had also smoked part of Mr Walker's stock that they had been given to sell on his behalf.
"That, at least in part, is why we allege that Mr Walker shot Mr Hale."
Jurors were told Walker had visited a gym on Derby Lane with his brother earlier on the day of the shooting before taking a taxi to Lodge Lane in Toxteth, having made a booking under the name 'John', reports The Echo.
Walker would be picked up by another taxi, which had been booked to return him to his flat on Broad Green Road, from this location shortly after 4pm. However the driver, who recalled his passenger having 'smelled strongly of cannabis', was 'asked to take a diversion on the way' and visited the Hales' address on Haslingden Close for 'a very short time which cannot have exceeded three minutes' as per CCTV and doorbell camera footage."
Walker was said to have brought the black handgun for them to look after. He told the court he asked the brothers to mind the 9mm firearm on behalf of an unnamed man who supplied him with his drugs. He said that the discharge had occurred when he was delivering the weapon, adding: "I told them I had to be quick, because I had a taxi outside. I unzipped my coat and told them I've brought this for yous, the firearm.
"I've unzipped the man bag, there’s a pair of gloves in there. I've put the gloves on and pulled the gun out. I didn't want to touch it with my bare hands and leave my fingerprints on it. I pulled the slide back on the firearm. There was a bullet in it. I was unloading it. The bullet come out of the ejector. I released the slide. It just went back straight out of the firearm.
"I’ve then pulled the magazine out to put the bullet back into the magazine. I've then put the magazine on the coffee table and picked the firearm up. I've then pointed it at Peter as a joke. There was no threats made. I had no reason to be angry with the Hales. I didn't think it was loaded. I couldn't believe it. I got the magazine off the coffee table then left."
The court heard during Walker's sentencing that he was previously handed a suspended prison sentence of two years in July 2023 for possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply. He completed 120 hours of unpaid imposed upon him as part of this sentence, but did not fulfil a rehabilitation activity requirement and tested positive for having class A drugs in his system during the suspension period.
Mr Justice Freedman, who presided over Walker's trial, imprisoned him for seven years and one month. Sentencing, the High Court judge said: "The death of Peter Hale is a tragic loss to his brother, his family and those who knew him. Nevertheless, the verdicts of the jury are such that you have been found not guilty of any intention to cause death or alarm and of manslaughter. The offences were committed against a background of serious drug trafficking. Over a period of months, you were supplying cocaine and heroin to the drug addicted Hale brothers about every other day.
"On your case, you agreed with your suppliers to mind the self-loading pistol for them. Rather than expose yourself to the danger of detection, your case is that you arranged with the Hale brothers that they would mind the firearm for you.
"Your case is that you demonstrated the gun to the Hale brothers and in the course of doing that, believing that the gun was not loaded, you pulled the trigger. Your demonstration went seriously wrong."