Men who carried out gang revenge shootings jailed

Two men who carried out a series of gangland revenge shootings including one that saw a six-year-old girl and her family forced to dive for cover have been jailed.

It was "miraculous" nobody came to serious harm following the actions of Kieran Morgan and Zaki Shazad in Manchester, police said.

Shots were also fired inside the city's DRIP burger bar while customers were inside eating.

"This kind of revenge violence, will not be tolerated on the streets of Manchester," Det Insp Lee Newburn, of Greater Manchester Police, said.

"It is miraculous that no-one was seriously injured but they could very easily have been."

Morgan, 30, from Failsworth, was jailed at Minshull Street Crown Court for 18 years with an extra five years on licence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Shazad, 22, from Levenshulme, was sentenced to 16 years after he was found guilty of the same charge.

Morgan fired a shotgun at a home at Dorac Avenue in Stockport before throwing a homemade firework and explosive, police said.

Forensic testing after the attack on 12 March 2023 later revealed it involved highly dangerous hydrochloric acid.

Morgan also fired a sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun at a house on Wilmslow Road in Stockport on 21 April 2023. A family, including a six-year-old girl, were in the driveway at the time and managed to take cover in a vehicle.

They described hearing an "explosion" as the gun went off. Morgan then made his getaway in a VW Golf.

On 30 April 2023 Morgan entered DRIP Burger on Wilmslow Road and fired towards the back of the shop and towards the counter.

Before he fired, Morgan was seen on CCTV outside while footage from inside the shop showed two customers and one member of staff near the counter and several staff members preparing orders at the back. Police said, Miraculously, no-one was seriously injured.

The pair were arrested after analysis of CCTV.

Snapchat messages analysed from Morgan's phone later showed communication with Shazad discussing proposed "jobs" - including the attack on DRIP Burger.

Det Insp Newburn said: "Today we have seen two dangerous individuals locked up for their parts in a number of firearms discharges targeting properties where innocent people were present.

"One of the victims of these shootings has described to me how scared she now is to go out in public and just how shaken she is about what happened. Nobody should be made to feel like this."

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