Bungling teenage hitman jailed after accidentally shooting accomplice in the neck

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A teenage hitman shot his accomplice in the neck when he pulled the trigger too soon.

On the command from his partner, Leon Haynes drew his gun from the waistband of his trousers, but accidentally fired before he had aimed it at his intended victim.

The bullet instead struck his sidekick, Covi Henry, in the neck.

Undeterred, Haynes shot his target four times in the forearm and stomach.

The 17-year-old gunman then dragged his wounded accomplice from the scene, but both were arrested later that day.

The victim escaped to hospital, where doctors saved his life. Henry also made a full recovery.

Yesterday, Henry and Haynes were beginning lengthy prison sentences for the shooting, which was part of a turf war between rival drugs gangs.

Haynes had been the junior partner in the "hit" along with 24-yearold Henry, described as his gangland "mentor", who was supposed to be showing him the ropes.

The pair rode up to their 24-year-old target in the Chorlton-on-Medlock area of Manchester on August 11 last year on mountain bikes, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

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Mentor: Covi Henry was the acciently shot in the neck by protégé Haynes

Some weeks earlier, Henry had told the victim: "I'm coming for you, you're getting it", and this time he bragged: "Remember what I said to you last time?".

He then told Haynes to "get the strap out", meaning the gun.

The trial was told that as a 17-year-old, Henry had threatened police with a handgun after a car chase only to slip, causing the gun to go off.

He was given four years' detention for that incident.

Haynes, of Gorton, Manchester, described himself as "a gunman prepared to kill to defend himself".

He was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection and ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years in prison before being considered for parole, after being convicted of attempted murder and pleading guilty to possession of a firearm.

Henry, from Hulme, Manchester, was found guilty of possession of a firearm and jailed for eight years.

After the case, Detective Sergeant Gary Smith, from Longsight CID, said: "This shows the damage that guns can do if they fall into the wrong hands.

"These weapons are indiscriminate and, as this case has shown, it is not only the intended target who can be injured by them."