Kirkby taxi driver tells Croxteth Crew trial of moment gunman had him in his sights

Feb 5 2013 by Gary Stewart, Liverpool Echo

A TAXI driver told a court of the terrifying moment when a gunman pointed a revolver at his chest and pulled the trigger.

Joel Garrity, 31, was giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday in the trial of nine people accused of being involved in gang-related violence and drug dealing in Croxteth and Norris Green.

Mr Garrity recalled how he was leaving his house in Ford Avenue, Kirkby, after midnight to get in his Hackney cab when he was ambushed by two masked youths.

He said: “I went out about 12.30am. My cab was up my path. I went to get back in my taxi.

“Someone came running up to me with a gun in the middle of the road. It was a silver gun, a big gun. They had it in two hands.

“At first when I saw them I ran to the exit of my close. He ran after me. I stopped in the road and he caught up with me. I could feel him behind me.

“I seen two of them then. They seemed young, they were thin. His face was covered by a hat and scarf.

“He tried to fire it. I was watching him. He pulled the trigger. It didn’t work. I decided to run again.

“I got a couple of yards and I heard him, felt him, behind me. He tried again to shoot and the same thing happened. That time I tried to grab it. I was grabbing his hands and getting him to move it away from my chest.”

He said when the struggle was over the two lads ran off and he found a hat and a glove on the floor, and shortly after heard a scrambler bike driving away.

Jurors were then played a recording of the 999 call he made shortly after to report the incident on October 21, 2011, and evidence that DNA on the hat was a match for one of the defendants, alleged Croxteth Crew member Barry Burke.

Courtney Griffith QC, Barry Burke’s barrister, asked: “Are you now or have you ever been a member of a gang? Were you ever a member of the Nogsyheads or Strand Gang?”

Mr Garrity said: “No.”

Mr Griffiths QC then asked: “As far as you are aware no one would want to shoot at you for any reason?”

Mr Garrity replied: “They wouldn’t, no.”

But John McDermott QC, for Ryan Holden, pointed out that several of the defendants had phoned Mr Garrity, despite the fact he said he did not know them.

Mr McDermott said: “You do know Ryan Holden don’t you? He’s a customer of yours isn’t he? You deal drugs to Ryan Holden. You sell cocaine from your taxi.

“It’s known as sniff in the area isn’t it? You refer to it as sniff don’t you?”

Mr Garrity said: “No.”

But Mr McDermott said: “If you don’t know him you can’t have fallen out with him. There’s no reason for him to bear you any ill will.”

A month after the alleged incident police recovered an arsenal of guns and ammo from wasteland near Stonedale Crescent, Croxteth, said to have been used by members of the Croxteth Crew gang – also known as the Croxteth Young Guns – in a series of shootings and drive by attacks.

Barry Burke, 19, of Stonedale Crescent, Croxteth, and Ryan Holden, 20, of Montrovia Crescent, Fazakerley, both deny guns and arson conspiracies and conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs.

Seven other co-defendants deny a variety of related charges.

They all deny being members of the Croxteth Crew gang.

(Proceeding)