Three jailed for murdering man in drive-by shooting

Three men have been jailed for at least 29 years each after they murdered a man in a drive-by shooting.

Connor Brookes, 20, and a friend were in a parked car on Well Lane, in Walsall, on 8 July when a gunman in a black Ford Focus fired at them once with a shotgun.

Mr Brookes, who was in the driver's seat, was killed, while his friend in the passenger seat was hit in the left shoulder and survived.

Jake Sanbrook, 23, Byron Sellick, 20, and Julian Falconer, 20, were all jailed for life on Friday at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Sanbrook, of Fischer Road, Walsall, Sellick, of Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, and Falconer, of Wyrley Close, Willenhall, had been found guilty of murder, attempted murder and possessing a firearm in April.

Samuel Danks-Petty, 21, of Buildwas Close, Walsall, was previously found guilty of perverting the course of justice and was sentenced to three years in a young offender institution.

West Midlands Police said the killing was an act of revenge after Mr Brookes's brother Patrick was convicted of murdering Bailey Atkinson, who was stabbed to death in Walsall in 2023

The three killers were friends of Mr Atkinson, the force said, and they had images of him on their phones along with material related to his murder.

The Ford Focus, which was reported stolen, was driven by Sanbrook, with Sellick and Falconer as passengers.

Shots had been fired from the car towards another vehicle less than 15 minutes before Mr Brookes's killing, a police spokesperson said.

CCTV footage showed the fatal shooting happened just metres away from parents and young children.

Following the murder, the Focus sped off at nearly 50mph and was driven to Wyrley Lane, where the murder weapon, a sawn-off shotgun, was dumped in a bin bag.

The car was found abandoned four days later with gunshot residue inside and DNA from Sanbrook and Danks-Petty, who had helped the killers get home.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Brookes's sister Megan Brookes said her brother's loss had taken a "huge toll" on the family.

"No-one will ever be able to fix the pain that my parents, siblings and the wider community have endured," she said.

"I hope everyone sitting in this courtroom today can put yourselves in our shoes and imagine how it feels.

"Connor was an incredibly kind and caring person - someone who was always there for us. His loss at such a young age was devastating for all of us who loved him."

She described the months since Mr Brookes's death as a "heartbreaking journey" for the family and said they would carry the loss with them forever.

"This violence has to end before more lives are ruined," she added.

Det Insp Michelle Cordell, of West Midlands Police, said Mr Brookes's murder had a "devastating impact" on everyone who knew him.

"The brutal and cold-hearted actions of this group in broad daylight were intentional, cruel, cowardly and unjustified," she said.

Judge Michael Chambers KC described it as an "appalling act" that was the epitome of a "tit-for-tat gang shooting".

Addressing the three killers, he said: "Each of you are equally culpable whether your role was as shooter, the driver who slowed down or the passenger who clearly encouraged and assisted.

"Each of you knew what was going to happen, each played their part and this was planned for some weeks."

Mr Chambers said the killing was "clearly a revenge shooting for the murder of Bailey Atkinson".

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