Supplier News
UK – Man jailed for drive by shooting at Aspers The Gate
By Phil - 6 June 2014
A man who carried out a drive-by shooting at Aspers Casino in Newcastle has been jailed for three years by Newcastle Crown Court.
Ronald Turkington, 41, admitted carrying out the attack after he was ejected by casino staff for being too drunk.
He threatened security staff saying: “My name is Ronnie and I will have you finished tonight. I’m coming back to finish you.”
He was captured on CCTV pointing the gun out of the driver’s side window and aiming it at door staff.
Prosecutor Emma Dowling said: “Around 15 to 20 minutes later a car drove through Stowell Street the wrong way down the one-way street. The defendant was driving the vehicle and he put his hand out of the car window and appeared to have a small black revolver. He fired five or six shots into the air. You can hear loud gunshots on the CCTV footage. The door staff said they thought he had come back to shoot them.”
A police van was nearby and an officer took a note of Mr. Turkington’s car registration number, making the arrest four hours later.
Miss Dowling said: “He said the window of Turkington’s car was down and he saw the defendant produce a gun and point it at him. He said it looked like a cowboy gun and the barrel was only a metre from his face. He thought he was going to be shot in the head and he says this is the most frightened he has been in his life.”
The weapon wasn’t found. Mr. Turkington pleaded guilty of possessing an imitation firearm.
By the time he was breathalysed he was under the limit, the court heard.
Paul Caulfield, defending, said: “He has behaved in the most ridiculous fashion. We all know the city is covered with CCTV and he was bound to be caught as he was driving his own car.”
