Door digital camera captured harmless grandad being shot lifeless by front room window
Children were playing on Elm Street in County Durham, when innocent Barry Dawson, 60, was shot through his living room window – three men have now been jailed for life
The horrific moment an innocent grandad was shot through his living room window while children played outside was caught on Ring doorbell camera. Barry Dawson, 60, was struck by a single bullet to the chest which pierced his heart, lung and liver in the teatime attack on Saturday, 5 April this year.
Today, three men have been jailed for life for the terrifying attack on Elm Street, Stanley, County Durham. Sean Reay, 30, Kelvin Lawson, 38, and Thomas Sterling, 22, were found guilty after a trial at Teesside Crown Court.
Mr Justice Cotter handed down a life sentence with a minimum term of 32 years to gunman Reay, of Sabin Terrace, Stanley.
Lawson, from Frosterley Gardens, Stanley, who shattered the downstairs window of the terraced house to provide his accomplice with a clearer shot, received a life sentence with a minimum term of 28 years.
Sterling, residing at The Avenue, Stanley, was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 26 years. The judge noted that he was part of a “show of strength” on the street that day.
A resident of the street for over two decades, Mr Dawson was a well-respected member of his community. The chilling doorbell footage recorded the shooting and then Mr Dawson’s son, Shane, shouting: “They shot my dad.”
Mr Justice Cotter said: “This was an extraordinary crime in an ordinary residential street. It was the sort of thing most people only see in television or films, and then not in this country.”
In a victim impact statement, Mr Dawson’s partner Sarah Hopwood described Mr Dawson, affectionately known as Buck, as an “adored father and grandfather”.
She said: “This horrendous crime has broken our hearts and it is something we will never recover from.”
The court was told that Reay sought vengeance following an earlier altercation outside his home, suspected to be drug-related, during which he claimed a man threatened to torch his house.
Reay’s crew believed the person responsible was inside Mr Dawson’s home and aimed to draw him out by shattering windows. Mr Dawson, who had been resting upstairs and was uninvolved in the earlier incident outside Reay’s home, got up to investigate the commotion.
Mr Justice Cotter stated that Reay was the ringleader while Lawson and Sterling were “key lieutenants”. The judge pointed out that the trio lived by a code that viewed the police as adversaries.
“You can reflect on where your code has got you during your decades in prison,” he said.
“Until you reject the code, you will not be safe to rejoin society.”
Reay enlisted Kevin Dorward, 38, to chauffeur them to the shooting and his cousin Keith Dorward, 48, also tagged along. They were acquitted of murder but confessed to perverting the course of justice by attempting to torch the getaway car.
Kevin Dorward’s partner Michaela Hetherington also admitted to perverting the course of justice by falsely telling police that the car had been stolen.
The judge sentenced Kevin Dorward to 20 months in prison and Keith Dorward to 16 months, both of whom resided in Annfield Plain at the time. Hetherington received a 15-month sentence but will be released immediately having already served 246 days on remand.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil Fuller, Senior Investigating Officer for Operation Hamnett at Durham Constabulary, said: “I hope this investigation sends out a clear message to criminals that we will not allow such extreme violence on our streets.
“There is no place for guns on our streets, and we take a zero-tolerance approach in tackling and bringing to justice those who choose to carry such weapons.
“Barry Dawson needlessly lost his life that afternoon because of the despicable actions of these three men. My thoughts remain with those who loved him.”
