Demi Dunford, 29, was jailed for a minimum of 31 years for orchestrating a cold-blooded murder and her brother Stephen Dunford, 31, is serving a life sentence for attempted murder
A gun-wielding brother and sister duo face a combined minimum of 50 years imprisonment following a series of shooting incidents. In distinct attacks, Stephen Dunford, 31, discharged his weapon at a group of youngsters, whilst his sister Demi, 29, orchestrated a ruthless killing.
Both siblings are now serving life terms for their offences. Demi, from Derby Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, received a minimum 31-year sentence last week for a murder she masterminded in 2023.
She, alongside three accomplices involved in her lethal scheme, were all convicted of murder in December 2025 after trial proceedings. The sentencing hearing resulted in the group being imprisoned for a combined total of 118 years.
Demi, the architect of the slaying, had been feuding with drug dealer Abdullah Hassan when she devised his assassination. She coordinated the “cold blooded, targeted shooting and murder”, the jury heard from prosecutor Stephen Wood KC.
Abdullah, 25, was fatally shot during an incident in Sheffield during the early morning of April 9, 2023. He was enticed from his residence in the middle of the night before waiting figures “emerged from the shadows” and opened fire on him.
Abdullah had answered a telephone call from someone posing as a prospective drug purchaser. Demi arranged the assassination and enlisted Alex Taff, 31, Osai Williams, 29 and Andrew Horton, 47, to assist her in carrying out the scheme.
All received sentences last week on the principle that – despite only one individual firing the fatal shot – they were collectively responsible. Prior to the fatal shooting, Demi was already on South Yorkshire Police’s radar.
In 2020, she had orchestrated the burning of vehicles involved in a string of drive-by shootings across Sheffield. Demi’s brother, the “dangerous” killer Stephen Dunford, targeted the innocent children in Sheffield during 2020.
The youngsters had gathered before a planned visit to the Meadowhall shopping centre. Stephen was hunting for rival gang members when he fired randomly – striking a 12 year old boy in the thigh and coming within centimetres of another child’s head and neck.
Another gang member was also in the vehicle wielding a firearm during the incident. Dunford, of Fellbrigg Road, Sheffield, was convicted of attempted murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life regarding the shooting.
He was also found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life concerning another shooting two days prior. When he received a minimum 19-year sentence in 2020 for the attempted murder, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC branded Dunford as presenting an “immense danger” to the public.
He stated: “I have no idea when or if it will ever be safe to release you.” In 2022, he received sentencing for causing a woman’s death by dangerous driving following a collision from 2018.
He drove a grey Fiat Punto at high speed through a red traffic light in Sheffield whilst under the influence of drugs, before colliding with Naomi Colcomb. The 28-year-old sustained catastrophic injuries and died at the scene.
Stephen made a swift exit from the scene, with the Punto later discovered ablaze. Upon confessing to causing death by dangerous driving, he was given a six-year sentence, which will run concurrently with his life sentence.
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