Kyron Smye, aged 22 and of no fixed abode, and Niall Kelly, 20 and of Penrhyn Road in Northampton, were sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on 20 July 2020. Smye was given a six and half year jail term for admitting an offence of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. He was also sentenced to an additional two years in prison for unrelated drug supply offences following an investigation led by Northamptonshire Police.

Kelly was sentenced to four years and eight months after admitting possession of a firearm.

Dorset Police received a report of gunshots being fired in the area of Marsh Road, to the rear of the Asda supermarket on 22 May 2018. A witness described hearing two shots and seeing a man holding a gun.

CCTV footage was obtained that showed a black vehicle passing a group of men, who then scattered and ran. A man who appeared to be wearing gloves was seen to approach them holding a handgun before running back in the direction of the vehicle.

There were no reports of any injuries. After a search of the area, a 9mm bullet casing was located.

As a result of the extensive enquiries led by Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team, Smye was identified as the man seen in possession of the firearm and officers attended an address in Northampton to carry out arrest enquiries on 31 May 2018.

Smye was arrested at the address and Kelly, who was also present, was detained on suspicion of assisting an offender. A handgun was found in some shrubbery behind the address and was found to have Kelly’s DNA on it. He was further arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm.

It was also confirmed that the cartridge found at the scene in Weymouth had come from the handgun that was found in Northampton.

Analysis of Smye’s phone revealed he had sent messages to Kelly that appeared to relate to the incident and he had also carried out Internet searches in relation to shots being fired in Weymouth.

There was no evidence to indicate that Kelly had been in Weymouth at the time of the shooting incident.

Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Derbyshire, of MCIT, said, “Incidents involving the discharge of firearms are extremely rare in our area and, although thankfully nobody was injured, this incident understandably caused concern for the local community.

“We will not tolerate people arming themselves with dangerous weapons and using them to threaten violence on our streets. I am glad that as a result of our extensive investigation, involving many areas of the Force, we were able to identify Kyron Smye and his accomplice Niall Kelly so they could face justice for their offending.”