Boy, 7, and his mum were shot on doorstep in Salford gang dispute, jury told

A seven-year-old boy and his mother were shot on their doorstep in a bungled gangland hit, a court has heard.

The intended target was the youngster's father, Christian or Chris Hickey senior, husband to Jayne, who lived in Winton, Salford, at the time of the shooting on October 12 2015, the jury was told.

Prosecutor Paul Greaney QC, opening the case at the start of the trial of eight men, told the jury: "Both mother and son had been shot in the legs, causing serious injuries, and both required extensive hospital treatment, but survived.

"The prosecution case is that what happened that night was a plan to kill, in all probability Chris Hickey was the target, but something went wrong.''

Mr Hickey is a friend of Salford gang leader Michael Carroll, the jury heard, who was trading violent attacks with another gang, the A-Team, led by a man named Stephen Britton.

Shortly before 9.25pm on October 12, Chris Hickey was at home with his wife and son, Mr Greaney told the jury.

He continued: "There was a knock at the window. Jayne Hickey went to the door and opened it. Her son was behind her.

"A man was there, down the drive. He shouted, 'Is your husband in?' Jayne Hickey replied, 'One sec', at which she heard the man say something like, 'nah nah'.

"A second man then appeared. He was armed with a gun; indeed, he was armed with the same Heckler & Koch self-loading pistol that had been used to shoot Jamie Rothwell. The second man started shooting. Jayne Hickey slammed the door.

"Looking around, she saw that Christian had been shot. Then she realised that she too had been injured.''

Mrs Hickey later identified the man she spoke to as Carne Thomasson, an established member of the A-Team gang who was arrested with Mr Britton and others with a loaded handgun in Spain in February 2016.

Thomasson, 28, Christopher Hall, 49, Aldaire Warmington, 32, and John Thomasson, 49, all deny conspiracy to murder and perverting the course of justice.

James Coward, 22, Dominic Walton, 26, and Lincoln Warmington, 32, deny perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of an Audi car after the Hickey shooting.

Jacob Harrison, 26, has admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm to Mr Rothwell after he was shot and injured at a car wash near Wigan on March 30 2015.

John Kent, 54, denies the same charge and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice for the Rothwell shooting.

The defendants, each flanked by a prison officer, sat in the dock watching from behind reinforced glass as the prosecution opened the case before adjourning for the lunch break.

The court heard that between February 2015 and the Hickeys' shooting, a linked series of violent incidents occurred in the North West, centred on Salford.

A number of men were attacked and shot or stabbed and, on one occasion, a hand grenade was thrown at the window of an occupied family home.

Mr Greaney said these were planned attacks carried out by members of the two competing gangs, both operating in Salford, headed by Carroll and Britton, who had been friends until a violent dispute developed.

The trial continues.