Yahoo News West Denton gunman opened fire towards ex girlfriend after blaming her for his big casino loss
A gunman opened fire towards his former girlfriend in a residential street after blaming her for the fact he had blown £3,500 at a casino.
Nathaniel Mackay pointed the a semi-automatic handgun in the direction of the woman, who he had just broken up with, and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew above her head as she sat in her car and smashed through the front window of a family home nearby, where it was found lodged in an internal wall after the Saturday lunchtime shooting.
Following the incident in West Denton, Newcastle, Mackay was then helped by seven people as he fled the area. He was arrested by armed police in Bradford, where the drug dealer was found with cash and heroin in a hotel room. Now the 36-year-old, who said he would not have gone to the casino and lost the money if the woman had not stressed him out, has been locked up for more than 11 years.
Glenn Gatland, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court, said: "On the afternoon of Saturday the 4th of January 2020, Nathaniel Mackay stood in a residential street in West Denton in Newcastle and fired a live 9mm round from a Glock semi-automatic handgun over the top of a car his then girlfriend was driving.
"The bullet went through the front window of a nearby house and ended up in the living room wall. In deliberately discharging the round in a residential street, the Crown say he intentionally endangered the lives of (the woman) and those living in the street."
The court heard Mackay's relationship with the woman had deteriorated by early 2020. He visited a casino on Friday January 3 and lost around £3,500 and the next morning he broke up with his partner. Mr Gatland said: "He blamed her for the loss, saying he would not have gone there and lost the money but for her stressing him out."
The woman collected him from the casino and he was abusive to her. By the following day, he was still angry and blaming her for his losses and he had been taking drugs and drinking alcohol.
She told him to calm down and said she would pick him up and when she did so, he put a black gym back in the back of the car. He told her to 'just drive' and they headed up the A69 towards Hexham and he continued to blame her for losing the money at the casino and they then headed back to Newcastle and he got out of the car.
She then noticed him in her mirror flagging her down and heard him mention his phone, which she saw was still in the car. Mr Gatland said: "Mr Mackay walked towards her, pointing a gun at her.
"He started to move towards her in the middle of the road, slowly at first then picking up pace. She recalls starting her engine then he fired the gun.
"She heard the gun being fired and said the sound was like a bomb going off." She drove off and tried to compose herself from the shock of what had just happened.
Someone who was in the area at the time, referred to as "Witness A", said they thought they were witnessing a "lover's tiff" with the man being kicked out of the car but he then noticed he had a gun in his hand which had a slide mechanism rather than a revolver action. At the point the gun was fired, they "took off".
Meanwhile a family, including children, who lived at a house on Ridsdale Avenue, West Denton, returned home and their front window had been smashed by a bullet, with a black mark on their wall together with a brass bullet lodged in it.
Mackay was told by "criminal associate", Yaseen Ashraf, that the police were investigating the shooting and seizing the CCTV from his shop and were looking for Mackay.
Mackay, who was lying low at a friend's house and taking cocaine, was then told by Evangeline Tibbs that the police were outside his house, although she was in Guernsey at the time.
Mr Gatland said: "It is the Crown's case that Mackay, then being aware of armed police outside his home, started to try to get help to flee the area from friends and associates."
His mother, Shirley Mackay, asked him what she should tell the police and they discussed what they would tell the officers. He told her to delete messages between them and delete his number.
Mackay contacted his friend, Ben Roberts, and got him to help him escape to Bradford by letting him use his BMW. Mackay also contacted Karl Glendenning asking for cash to fund his escape. Glendenning, who was in hospital with a collapsed lung at the time, provided him with £200.
Mackay's brother, Sebastian Mackay, recommended Mackay should hide in a suitcase in the boot of a car and escape through the Channel Tunnel. He also suggested he went to their father's home.
Tyrone Vanzie knew Mackay from prison and lived in Bradford. Vanzie went with Mackay to a hotel in Bradford, which he booked. After they were arrested by armed police on January 8, in the hotel room there was £4,000 cash - which a judge said was him selling the firearm - in an envelope, nearly 300g of heroin, worth around £4,000, 2g of cocaine, steroids, needles and more cash.
The victim said in a statement about the impact of the shooting: "How he treated me during our time together, culminating in him firing a gun at me, has had a traumatic effect on my life."
She said it left her feeling suicidal, needing therapy and suffering "terrifying nightmares". She added that she and her family had to relocate for their safety and it has impacted on her relationship with relatives and friends who are worried about their own safety as a result of what happened.
She said she lives in fear for her her own safety and is "always looking over my shoulder" and self-conscious about who she shares information with. She added: "I live with such chronic anxiety it's affected my daily activities."
The woman said she has waited four-and-a-half years for the "traumatic chapter" of her life to come to an end as the case dragged on, which she found "agonising".
At the time, Mackay was prohibited from having a firearm as a result of a prison sentence of 32 months imposed for an offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in 2013. He has 16 previous convictions in total, including for violence.
Mackay, 36, of Ravenshill Road, West Denton, was originally charged with attempted murder but that was dropped and he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and possessing a firearm when prohibited. He also admitted possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and possessing criminal property in relation to separate offences dating back to 2017 and 2018. He was jailed for a total of 11 years and nine months.
Ashraf, 36, of The Burnside, West Denton, Shirley Mackay, 64, of Ravenshill Road, West Denton and Tibbs, 25, of Downend Road, Westerhope, all admitting perverting the course of justice.
Ashraf got 19 months suspended for 12 months with 80 hours unpaid work, Shirley Mackay got 22 months suspended for 12 months and Tibbs got 12 months suspended for 12 months with 80 hours unpaid work.
Glendenning, 46, of Trevelyan Drive, Newbiggin Hall, Newcastle, Roberts, 28, of Haggerston Road, Newcastle and Sebastian Mackay, 30, of Ravenshill Road, West Denton, admitted assisting an offender. Vanzie, 34, of Stone Street, Bradford, was convicted of assisting an offender after a trial.
Glendenning was jailed for 14 months but is time-served and so will be released, Roberts got 12 months suspended for 12 months with 80 hours unpaid work, Sebastian Mackay got seven months suspended for 12 months with 60 hours unpaid work and Vanzie got nine months suspended for 12 months with 60 hours unpaid work.
Christopher Knox, for Mackay, said he was well-educated and had been "startlingly successful" in the retail business before being "taken over" by drugs. He added that he is now clean of drugs after four-and-a-half years remanded in custody, where he has been "successful" and "usefully employed".
Matthew Donkin, for Glendenning, said: "He was not informed of the plan, other than that Mr Mackay needed to lie low." He thought he was helping a drug dealer rather than a gunman, the court heard.
Brian Hegarty, for Roberts, said he had been friends with Mackay and trained with him. He added that he is now in employment. He also thought he was helping a drug dealer not a gunman.
Tony Cornberg, for Tibbs, said by the time she told Mackay about the police being in his street, the offence had already happened. He added that she was in Guernsey at the time she messaged him and did not know about he firearm incident at the time. She only became aware there had been a shooting after reading about it in the media. He added that she is now working and doing well.
Mr Cornberg, also representing Sebastian Mackay, said he did not know about the use of a firearm when he assisted his brother with escape suggestions and was abroad at the time.
Jamie Adams, for Shirley Mackay, said references show she is a "good woman who sees the good in everyone and does her best to help others" and that she is an "inhertently decent woman who thinks about others first". He added that her actions did not cause any delay to the police investigation and she acted out of misplaced loyalty to her son.
Seamran Sidhu, for Vanzie, said he used his own details and passport to book the hotel and was cleared of helping Mackay with knowledge of the firearm incident. She added: "He has dedicated his time to either boxing professionally or coaching others. She said he had helped youngsters facing problems in dangerous neighbourhoods.
Mr Cornberg, for Ashraf, said: " A lot of people speak very highly of him." The court heard he has been doing charity work and has become a "positive member of society". The court heard he didn't know Mackay had fired the gun.
