Two jailed after teen shot through letterbox in drug debt revenge attack

Two men who travelled from Bristol to Cardiff and shot a 15-year-old with a double-barrelled shotgun in a drug debt revenge attack have been jailed

Efekan Karahan, 18, from Bristol, walked up to the house in Pontprennau at about 19:30 on 7 June and fired his weapon twice through a letterbox, hitting his victim in the leg. He was sentenced to eight years and four months.

Accomplice Ashley Fernando Corbin, 21, also from Bristol, was waiting nearby while the shooting happened - he was sentenced to six years.

Newport Crown Court heard the attack was part of an ongoing drugs feud involving a family member of the victim, who was left with 30 pellets in his left leg.

Clare Wilkins, prosecuting, said the 15-year-old was at home looking after his brother and went downstairs to make a cup of tea when he heard a "massive bang" at the front door.

Wilkins said: "He went into the hallway and saw a figure through the glass in the front door, he immediately heard a gunshot and described the letterbox coming off.

"A second shot was fired which injured him. He moved around the corner, so he was no longer in sight."

The teenager went back upstairs to check on his brother and realised he was bleeding from his leg before looking out of the bedroom window and seeing Corbin recording Karahan on his phone.

Both men were wearing balaclavas.

The teenager thought someone was "booting the door with full force" and was played the mobile footage and CCTV which showed Karahan slipping on the tiled entrance to the house and hitting the door.

After firing the shotgun through the letterbox, the footage also showed him tripping over a railing while fleeing the scene.

The court heard Karahan lost control of the shotgun before retrieving it and running across a field to the stolen vehicle, which had cloned number plates.

After the shooting, the victim called his older brother to say what had happened. He arrived at the house shortly afterwards and tried to follow the pair in their vehicle.

He then returned home and rang an ambulance for his injured brother, who was described in court as "being pale and scared" following the shooting.

His injuries were not life threatening.

Ieuan Callaghan, defending Karahan, said he had been a "victim of exploitation of criminal gangs in Bristol" and was "not a dangerous or sophisticated criminal".

Ruth Smith, representing Corbin, said "he had been ripe for exploitation by drug gangs since being excluded from school at the age of 13".

Sentencing Karahan, judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: "You pulled the trigger, not once but twice, that is not a lesser role."

She described Corbin as someone who was "dangerous" with "a pro-criminal attitude".

Det Supt Mark O'Shea from South Wales Police, said: "This was a reckless act of violence at a house where young children were present.

"When Karahan shot through the letterbox, he had complete disregard for who might have been behind the door.

"It was extremely fortunate that there was a letterbox guard inside the property which took the force of the pellets."