Gunman shot man in groin during car park violence

A gunman who shot a man in the groin and leg during a late-night armed fight in a car park has been jailed for more than eight years.

Mohammed Kamal, 25, fired a pistol during the incident in Manningham, Bradford, on 19 April and claimed he was only armed because he had been attacked a week earlier.

Witnesses reported seeing between 10 and 15 men wearing balaclavas gathered in the car park off Victor Street and armed with machetes, axes and hammers.

At Bradford Crown Court, he admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. He was jailed for eight years and two months at the same court on Wednesday.

The court previously heard the man required surgery after the shooting, with Kamal, of Girlington Road, Bradford, initially charged with attempted murder.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting were "masked and hidden in shrouds of criminality", the court heard, with the pistol never recovered.

Judge Jonathan Rose, Honorary Recorder of Bradford, told Kamal: "Guns kill and maim, terrorise and intimidate and their ready availability leads to their use in many and diverse situations of criminality."

Kamal had been carrying the gun in the days leading up to the shooting for protection because "some lads tried to beat him up", the court heard.

He claimed to have feared for his life when men approached him and fired the gun in panic.

Judge Rose added: "You and others like you must understand that the carrying of any sort of firearm and the use of any type of firearm will always lead to very substantial sentences of imprisonment as both a punishment and a deterrent to others."

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Insp Suzanne Hall said: "We welcome the sentence of Kamal today, firearms have no place in society and we take offending of this nature extremely seriously.

"The use of a firearm could have had fatal consequences; the victim is lucky to be alive."

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