Thugs led astray by ‘gangster’s moll’ into vicious gun war are jailed for a total of 111 years
The gang used violence and brutality to keep their customers in check and received 20,000 calls a month for heroin, crack, cocaine and cannabis
A DRUGS gang influenced by a gangster's moll who terrified Merseyside with their "Hollywood mob movie" drive-by shootings have been jailed for a total of 111 years.
13 members of a Widnes-based group linked to four attacks in Speke, Whiston and Huyton appeared at Liverpool Crown Court.
The gang dealt in heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis - receiving more than 20,000 calls a month for drugs - and their enforces employed intimidation and brutality.
Gangster's moll Victoria Galloway, 31, was a leading figure in the gang and helped lover Scott Smith, 29, muscle in on any competition.
The gang used self-loading pistols, Uzis, as well as Mac-10 sub-machine guns. Prosecutors described them as "something from a Hollywood mob movie."
Police linked Galloway to four drive-by shootings over a nine-month period which left four men injured - one of them was paralysed from the waist down when his spine was severed by a bullet during a dramatic car chase.
During the chase in Liverpool, one of the gunman shot at a VW Passatt he was chasing at high speed.
In another incident, a house was petrol bombed in a £20,000 extortion plot as a grandmother, daughter and grandchild were trapped inside. Thankfully, all escaped uninjured.
Police arrested the gang after a raid in April last year at a flat in Widnes in which officers found an "Aladdin's Cave" of firearms including Glock and Browning self-loading pistols complete with silencers and a French revolver.
Officers also discovered a photo of Smith showing off a loaded revolver while he was sat in his bathroom.
At Liverpool Crown Court, Galloway denied wrongdoing but was also convicted of conspiracy to possess firearms, conspiracy to supply cocaine and and conspiracy to supply cannabis.
11 other men were jailed for a total of 87 years.
After the case Chief Inspector Mike Evans from Cheshire Police said: "This organised crime gang brought misery, fear and intimidation to the streets and the sentences handed down reflect the severity of their crimes.
RELATED STORIES
"They believed they were above the law and untouchable - now they are paying the ultimate price for their criminal activity."
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Tivendale from Merseyside Police said: "We are pleased this reckless organised crime group has been removed from our streets for the foreseeable future.
"We have seen again the criminals who use firearms are throwing away their life and destroying that of others."
The first shooting took place in Speke, Liverpool in September 2014, when two men on a scrambler bike opened fire with an Uzi and Mac-10 on a man standing in the street - only to miss and hit a house.
The second shooting occurred in Whiston the following January when a man was shot and wounded in the shoulder as he was walking down the road.
In March 2015 two men in Huyton were shot and wounded outside a house and the car chase occurred the following April.
During the trial, the jury heard a recording of a 999 call made by a terrified mum who was trapped with her baby in a house following a petrol bomb attack targeted against a relative.
In the hours before the attack the gang had been blackmailing a relative of the family and sent a text saying: "I've waited long enough. You obviously think I'm a divvy. Let's see who the divvy is shall we."
Another said: "Mate, I suggest you answer your phone before I f****** ruin your life."
The court heard Smith was one of the gunmen who used a bike in one of the shootings but he ended up in hospital with a broken arm after his machine crashed during the getaway.
Later, Galloway contacted an accomplice to move the wrecked bike and told him to "get his a** in gear."
In court she denied knowing about the firearms and said she felt "sick" when she discovered Smith had posed for a photo with a revolver.
She said: "I've never seen the gun before. I had never seen the picture before. I was disgusted. I was appalled he would have anything like that in the house. I haven't had any involvement with this gun."
Jail sentences received
David McMullan, 31, Huyton: convicted of conspiracy plus blackmail and arson, minimum of 12 years
Paul Remedios, 31, Widnes, Kieran Blair, 23, Andrew Huges, 48, Widnes: conspiracy with 14 years
Callum Tombs, 19, SUtton Manor, St Helens: nine years
Sean Smith, 33: conspiracy with six and a half years
Tyrone Grimes, 19, Widnes, Michael Loughran, 26, Stephen McCarten, both of Runcorn: five, four, three and a half years jail respectively for drugs offences
Terence O'Donnell, 27, Liverpool: thee years for assiting an offender
Jordan Ferns, 21, Widnes: two year suspended term for conspiracy
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368.