Three men convicted over fatal drive-by shooting in Wakefield
Dale Stogden was shot and killed on Doncaster Road last August
Three men have been found guilty of killing a man by mistake in a drive-by shooting in Wakefield last August.
Dale Stogden, who was also known as Brett, suffered a fatal gunshot wound on Doncaster Road on August 12 last year.
He died in hospital less than an hour later.
Leyton Davies, aged 28, of Ossett, was convicted of murder following a two-week trial at Leeds Crown Court.
Adam Ahmed, aged 21, and Marc Carter, aged 20, both from Wakefield, were found guilty of manslaughter.
They had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Investigations revealed Brett was with a female friend at the time of the shooting. It appeared he may not have been the intended target, as two other men who were present fled immediately afterward.
CCTV footage showed the defendants driving around the Agbrigg area earlier that day and exchanging messages suggesting they were searching for these men.
On the night of the incident, Ahmed was seen concealing a machete before entering the stolen and cloned Toyota RAV4 used in the crime.
Ahmed drove past the group once before turning around, allowing Davies to fire the fatal shot from an open window as they drove by the bus stop outside the BP petrol station.
The gun used was believed to be a converted blank firing pistol.
The RAV4 was found abandoned the following day, and taxi records confirmed the defendants were picked up near the location.
All three men were arrested on August 15 and charged on August 18, remaining in custody since.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle, of West Yorkshire Police, said:
“From what we now understand of this crime, it looks like Brett was not the intended target of this shooting. However, as was made clear throughout this trial, killing the wrong person is no defence.
“Him not being the target certainly does not take away from the grief that Brett’s family and friends’ have suffered.
“It is clear that Ahmed, Carter and Davies set out that day intending to cause serious harm. We know they had both a machete and a converted blank firing pistol in their possession and that they had spent some time before this incident searching the local area.
"They have demonstrated that they are dangerous men who are willing to use extreme levels of violence to settle a score.
“This case highlights the dangers of blank firing firearms which are being converted, such as in this incident, into lethal purpose weapons.
"West Yorkshire Police has been part of a recent amnesty for specific types of Italian made blank-firing weapons and will continue working to disrupt the supply and criminal use of firearms.”
The trio will be sentenced at a later date.