Shoot-out erupted in street
The violence erupted in Rannoch Close, Beaumont Leys, when a Leicester gang member blasted a shotgun at a VW Golf carrying a group of Londoners – who responded by opening fire with two hand guns.
Three of the Londoners, including former Leicester man Abdi Hassan, 20, were each jailed at Leicester Crown Court yesterday for two years.
Hassan, Mohammed Farah, 23, and Iman Gedo, 20, all admitted violent disorder in the early hours of May 2, 2007.
None of them were carrying the firearms, the court was told.
Stephen Coupland, prosecuting, said: "It terrified innocent occupants in the cul-de-sac inhabited by families, pregnant women and elderly residents."
The London gang, of between eight and 20 men, were armed with bats, poles, metal bars, golf clubs and a samurai sword – as well as two loaded handguns.
They had arrived in at least two hired vehicles, a Fiesta and a Golf.
At about 1.40am residents heard a loud bang when one of the Leicester group fired a shotgun at the Golf, smashing a side window and injuring passenger Farah with the glass.
A large number of people gathered in the street, before both cars from London were driven up and down seeking the local men.
Mr Coupland said: "Each vehicle contained a gunman.
"Witnesses saw both vehicles approach the Leicester group.
"One got out of each car, produced and levelled a handgun, before firing towards the Leicester men who fled the immediate area."
The London gang began smashing up cars the local men had arrived in. One of the Leicester men was beaten and stabbed in a back garden. The victim of that assault, who suffered superficial wounds to his face, head and body, was later charged with violent disorder, but was found not guilty after a recent trial.
In mitigation, defence counsel said the three defendants, all from Somalia, did not anticipate violence that night. They travelled to Leicester for a party in Rannoch Close – from where a 999 call was made for help after the Golf was shot at. They became caught up in the violence by damaging the cars. None of the defendants fired any shots.
Justine Robinson, defending Hassan, formerly of London and also Mottisford Road, Stocking Farm, Leicester, said her client had misused drugs in the past, and the fight was "a settlement between two cultures".
Passing sentence, Judge Simon Hammond said: "It was a very unpleasant armed battle, with two gangs rampaging outside tooled up with weapons.
"There was a risk innocent people could have been swept up in it, but mercifully they weren't."
