[A] MAN who fired a sawn-off shotgun during a drive-by shooting on a residential Whitehaven street has been jailed for eight years.
Curtis Kirkbride, 28, discharged the weapon, once, into a Land Rover windscreen after he and an accomplice rode up and down Windermere Road on motorcycles, revving engines, late on September 17 last year.
An occupant of one house told Carlisle Crown Court how the gun was aimed at him moments before the shooting. It caused his partner to collapse to the floor and start crying. Their baby was asleep inside the property. He recognised Kirkbride, whose face was exposed, and later told police he felt unsafe in his own home.
Officers recovered the shotgun, which was wrapped in a bag containing Kirkbride’s fingerprint. His DNA was also linked to a bag containing ammunition, and a glove bearing gunshot residue.
Kirkbride, who had fled the scene, admitted his intention had been to scare individuals with whom he had been involved in a feud. He claimed his house had been “burned out”, and his vehicles and partner attacked.
He denied being the gunman, a claim rejected by Judge James Adkin, who sentenced him for having a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Judge Adkin imposed an eight-year jail term with an extended three-year licence period. Kirkbride, of Kinniside Avenue, Whitehaven, was deemed a dangerous offender by the judge, and must serve two-thirds of his sentenced before being considered for parole.