GANG members who fired gunshots at a house, and planned and carried out acid attacks have been jailed for more than 50 years.
The ‘Deli Mob’ was responsible for a drive-by shooting on a home on Reaper Close in Hood Manor, as well as planning an acid attack on Birtles Road in Orford during 2020.
Jonathan Gordon, Dylan Johnston and Stephen Wissett appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced today, Wednesday, for their roles in the conspiracy.
Here, they were told they would spend decades behind bars for the Warrington plots, as well as other gangland activities.
The court heard that ‘gangland enforcer’ Jonathan Gordon took his instructions from an unidentified organised crime group boss via encrypted communications platform EncroChat.
The 34-year-old carried out a series of attacks and nearly blinded one man after throwing a container of acid in his face.
This incident saw him throw a container of the caustic liquid in the victim’s face as he retrieved a mobile phone charger from his car on Milton Street in St Helens on April 14, 2019.
He was left temporarily blinded, but he regained partial sight after months of medical treatment and later picked out convicted drug dealer Gordon – from Liverpool – as his attacker during an identity parade.
In a heart-rending victim impact statement, the victim described the terror and agony of the attack and the devastation it has had on his life.
He said: “My skin felt like jelly. As I washed my face, it felt as if my skin was falling off. My eyes and skin continued to burn and I was in agony.
“I was left in a world of darkness, depression and dependency. I worried I would forget my children’s faces. I thought about the fact they would age and their faces would change, but I would only ever know them as children.
“I accepted I would never be the father they deserved. I would never be able to drive them anywhere. I would never be able to see them play their football matches.”
The following year, the National Crime Agency launched Operation Venetic after the takedown of the EncroChat encrypted criminal communication network and discovered a series of covert messages plotting further gangland assaults.
Gordon and his boss had planned a second acid attack on a man in Blackpool, with the paymaster stating in one text that he ‘needed a good litre on him’.
But this was cancelled as the first Covid-19 lockdown had begun and the pair were worried that the police would spot their stolen car on the empty roads.
On April 6, 2020, Gordan and accomplices Johnston and Wissett drove a stolen Ford Fiesta to a house on Birtles Road and planned to throw acid on the occupant.
But they abandoned this attempt after spotting that the address had CCTV.
Returning the following day in disguise, the trio were spotted by police and fled – although the vehicle was seized.
Investigations discovered 28-year-old Wissett’s DNA on the steering wheel as well as a Lucozade bottle and a pair of gloves inside, while 27-year-old Johnston was forensically linked to a second pair of gloves.
While the boss ordered Gordon to return and ‘double the dose’ in order to ‘cook’ the victim, the NCA – working with Cheshire Police, Merseyside Police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit – then discovered through EncroChat that a grenade had been left in the front garden of the same property.
This led to bomb squads carrying out a controlled explosion on April 14, and the assault was subsequently paused.
Gordon – who used the EncroChat handle Valuedbridge and charged £6,000 to carry out an acid attack and £10,000 to blind his victim – continued to discuss the attack with his boss though, stating in one message: “He’s getting blinded bro.”
He and Johnston also assembled a team to blast the windows of a house on Reaper Close on March 20, 2020 in a drive-by shooting.
Mobile phone records showed that the pair had called each other in the minutes after the incident, while forensic examinations proved that the bullets had come from the same gun used in a street gunfight the former had been involved with in Liverpool in January 2020.
Gordon was involved in an altercation with an unknown man on this occasion, saying in a text that he had ‘let off a clip in the street’.
Messages revealed he had been involved in another gunfight in May 2020, when an unidentified attacker approached him on a bike and the duo exchanged fire.
One shot from the defendant’s Grand Power handgun landed in the bedroom of an elderly couple.
Last month, Gordon and Johnston were convicted of a series of offences by a jury.
Gordon was found guilty of three counts of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, two of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Johnston, of Ellesmere Port, was convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.
Wissett, also of Ellesmere Port, previously admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm as part of the team planning to throw acid in the face of the target in Warrington.
Representing Gordon, Lloyd Morgan said that while the offences were serious, they did not merit a life sentence, adding that the public would be protected by an extended determinate sentence.
Mike Bagley, on behalf of Johnston, spoke of his client’s educational and behavioural difficulties from a young age which saw him drawn into gangs.
“He will face a long sentence, and he has shown some signs of working with agencies to work through his management and thinking skills, which have been a lifelong problem,” he commented.
Meanwhile in defence of Wissett, Mark le Brocq spoke of how his client was the only one who can submit some ‘genuine remorse’ through his guilty plea.
“He is out of his league getting involved in this, and his record is not that of someone involved in organised crime,” the barrister added.
“It is something he very much regrets and is determined to put behind him.”
Before sentencing Gordon, judge David Aubrey described the acid attack as a ‘truly wicked act of barbarity’ and the defendant ‘extremely dangerous’.
He added: “You have shown no remorse or recognition for what you have done. What you did or sought to do reached the depths of inhumanity – there is no mitigation.
In addition, he said: “Your trade was not confined to acid attacks – you had ready access to lethal firearms and ammunition.
“That speaks volumes about your ruthlessness and callousness. Your inhumanity to man and complete disregard to the sanctity of life knew no bounds.”
On Johnston, judge Aubrey said: “I have no hesitation in finding you highly dangerous, and a determinate sentence is not sufficient enough to protect the public.
“You both represent a significant risk of serious harm to the public through future offences.”
Finally, turning to Wissett, the judge said: “Being a driver in the circumstances, you were still playing an important role, although not a leading role.
“I have come to the conclusion in the circumstances, when you were not involved in the organisation, with no suggestion of being involved in organised crime and you were out of your league, the sentence can be determinate.
“You are entitled to credit for your guilty plea, albeit at a late stage, but the sentence must still be a significant one.”
Gordon was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 24 years and 8 months, while Johnston was locked up for 18 years with an extended period of four years, and Wissett was incarcerated for 12 years and six months.
The former will only be released when the parole board deem it safe to do so and will spend his life on parole when he is eventually released.
Johnston having to serve two thirds of the custodial term before going before the parole board.
Ending the hearing, judge Aubrey thanked officers from the National Crime Agency, Merseyside Police and Cheshire Police.
He said: “This was a long and complex investigation into serious organised crime.
“All involved exercised skill and professionalism in gathering evidence to ensure those responsible were brought to justice.”
On the sentenced handed down, NCA operations manager Ben Rutter commented: “Gordon caused life-changing injuries to one victim who has suffered an unimaginable physical and mental ordeal.
“The victim’s bravery in helping with our investigation was crucial to seeing Gordon locked up today.
“Jonathan Gordon is a terrifyingly dangerous offender. He was totally unconcerned about blinding someone for money.
“This investigation spanned a number of years and brought out the best in our officers, who were aided by superb work from Merseyside Police and Cheshire Police.”
A Merseyside Police spokesman added: “The actions of these offenders were unimaginably cruel.
“They carefully arranged to inflict terrible injuries on other human beings, and the physical and emotional pain their actions have caused cannot be overestimated.
“Thankfully, they were stopped in their tracks thanks to the work of the National Crime Agency, supported by officers from Merseyside Police, and after data the offenders thought they were sharing secretly on EncroChat devices was downloaded by law enforcement.
“Organised crime groups do not care about the devastation they cause in the heart of our communities, often using fear and violence to maintain the illicit trade they are often involved with.
“I hope Gordon, Wissett and Johnston spend their time in prison considering the impact they have had on the victims and their families.”
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