Coventry teenager jailed for 25 years for shooting gang associateA teenager has today been jailed for 25 years for shooting a gang associate at close range in a residential street in Coventry.
Pray Maphosa, 19, shot Bailey Atkinson with a sawn-off shotgun following an argument in Pinley Fields, Stoke Aldermoor - a street where Mr Atkinson and Maphosa's parents both lived - in September last year.
Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told Maphosa he was being given an extended sentence "in order to protect the public in future" after he was found guilty of attempted murder and possessing the shotgun with intent to endanger life.
At the sentencing hearing at Warwick Crown Court, Judge de Bertodano said: "The sentence in this must send a clear message that if you associate yourself with gangs armed with guns and you use them with the intention of killing people, you will go to prison for a very long time."
Maphosa was sentenced to 25 years behind bars for attempted murder and, because it is part of an extended sentence, he will have to serve at least two-thirds of that period in prison, and will then only be released when the Parole Board considers it safe to do so.
Once he is released, he will be on licence for the rest of the prison term and then for a further five years.
He was sentenced to 13 years for the firearm charge which will run concurrently.
Doctors were able to save Mr Atkinson's arm from being amputated following the blast, but the court heard how he had been left with permanent injuries as well as a significant psychological impact.
"Bailey Atkinson was severely wounded," Judge de Bertodano told Maphosa.
"You could have killed him, which was the verdict of the jury. It was your intention to do just that.
"Of course there's a background to this offence and one that is sadly familiar to the courts.
"A background of gang culture so prevalent in the Coventry area and a cause of so much local serious crime.
"You and Bailey Atkinson were both associates of what's known as the C2 gang.
"Only you and he know what led to this incident. Because his affiliation was so strong, even after suffering such serious injuries, he did not co-operate with police and did not give evidence in court.
"You understand that better than anyone. When stabbed in July 2019 you too refused to assist police and as a result no-one was charged with that offence.
"In turn, you were confident you could commit these offences without anyone telling police what had happened.
"As a mark of that confidence and invulnerability to prosecution, you committed these offences in public, in a residential street at 10pm in full view of other young men with Bailey Atkinson outside the house."
The judge told Maphosa his potentially deadly actions were aggravated by the fact his parents and siblings were home at the time and his refusal to stay away from crime and gangs after being found alternative accommodation in Worcester while under a supervision order.