Granddad shot dead through living room window while children played outside

Three men have been jailed for life after an innocent granddad was shot through his living room window while children played in the street nearby.

Barry Dawson, 60, was the victim of a botched revenge attack in Stanley, County Durham, on Saturday April 5 this year.

Ringleader Sean Reay, 30, and associates Kelvin Lawson, 38, and Thomas Sterling, 22, were convicted of his murder following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Reay was ordered to serve minimum terms of 32 years, while his ‘key lieutenants’ Lawson and Sterling were jailed for at least 28 years and 26 years respectively.

The court heard Reay was out looking for vengeance following a suspected drug-related altercation earlier that day in which he claimed someone threatened to burn his house down.

The gang believed the person responsible was in Mr Dawson’s home.

Mr Justice Cotter said the three men lived by a code which saw the police as the enemy.

‘You can reflect on where your code has got you during your decades in prison,’ he said.

‘Until you reject the code, you will not be safe to rejoin society.’

Lawson smashed the downstairs window so Reay could get a clearer shot, the court heard.

Sterling remained on the street in a ‘show of strength’.

The single shot hit Mr Dawson in the chest, puncturing his heart, lung and liver.

He had lived in the street for more than 20 years and was a well-liked member of his community.

The shocking doorbell footage caught the shooting and then Mr Dawson’s son, Shane, shouting: ‘They shot my dad.’

Mr Justice Cotter said: ‘This was an extraordinary crime in an ordinary residential street.

‘It was the sort of thing most people only see in television or films, and then not in this country.’

In a victim impact statement, Mr Dawson’s partner Sarah Hopwood said the man people knew as Buck was an ‘adored father and grandfather’.

She said: ‘This horrendous crime has broken our hearts and it is something we will never recover from.’

Reay recruited Kevin Dorward, 38, to drive them to the shooting and his cousin Keith Dorward, 48, came along as well.

They were cleared of murder but admitted perverting the course of justice by trying to burn out the getaway car.

Kevin Dorward’s partner Michaela Hetherington also admitted perverting the course of justice by falsely claiming to police that the car had been stolen.

The judge jailed Kevin Dorward for 20 months, Keith Dorward for 16 months, who were living in Annfield Plain at the time, and Hetherington for 15 months, meaning she will be released immediately having served 246 days on remand already.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Fullersaid: ‘I hope this investigation sends out a clear message to criminals that we will not allow such extreme violence on our streets.

‘There is no place for guns on our streets, and we take a zero-tolerance approach in tackling and bringing to justice those who choose to carry such weapons.

‘Barry Dawson needlessly lost his life that afternoon because of the despicable actions of these three men. My thoughts remain with those who loved him.’

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