A TEENAGER from Sutton Manor was one of a criminal gang, which used firearms on the streets of Whiston and Rainhill, jailed last week.

Callum Tombs, 19, of Epping Avenue, is not believed to have fired the guns involved in the crimes - his role involved returning guns to a hideout in Widnes following the incidents.

He was sentenced to nine years for conspiracy to possess firearms.

Besides Tombs, 11 other men and a woman were imprisoned following sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court last Tuesday (June 14) for a combined total of more than 110 years.

The gang was involved in drug dealing, blackmail, arson and gun crime.

Pascale Jones, senior crown prosecutor with Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service’s Complex Casework Unit, said: "The roles within the gang were clearly established, with Scott Smith, Kieron Blair and David McMullen firing the guns.

"Others, like Callum Tombs, returned the guns to their place of storage and Andrew Hughes provided safe-keeping for the weapons, ammunition and class A drugs."

Firearms, ammunition and drugs were found at one of the gang member's Widnes home, which was described as an "Aladdin's Cave" and included a Glock pistol that had been used in the shootings.

Two other guns were found - a Browning self-loading pistol and a St Etienne French revolver.

The supply of heroin, cocaine and cannabis was at the heart of the "drive-by" style shootings carried out in Rainhill and Whiston, the court heard.

A man was shot and injured on January 13, 2015, in Blundells Lane, Rainhill and around three months later, a shooting took place on Copperwood Drive, Whiston, after a car chase between an Audi and a VW Passat. The Passat's passenger was left with a severed spine and paralysed from the chest down.

The gunman was seen to be leaning out of the passenger window of the Audi as he fired.

The rest of the gang Scott Smith, 27, David McMullen, 31, Kieron Blair, 24, Victoria Galloway, 32, Paul Remedios, 31, Sean Smith, 33, Andrew Hughes, 48, Michael Loughran, 27, Jordan Ferns, 27, Tyrone Grimes, 19, Stephen McCarten, 25 and Terence O’Donnell, 27.