Four gang members who shot a drug dealer in the face in a postcode war with a rival group have been jailed for 95 years.
James Sibley, 35, was left with half his face missing when he was ambushed while attempting to sell drugs.
Sara Hodgkinson, 32, had asked Sibley to meet her, but when he got to their agreed meeting place, she was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, Jordan Perry, 27, Jordan Smith, 22, and Ricardo Livingston-Wright, 31, who had been hidden in bushes waiting for him, jumped out and attacked.
Sibley was shot multiple times and was left with bullets lodged in his brain during the assault at around 1am on February 13 last year.
The group left the dealer in a pool of blood on the floor, fleeing the scene before police arrived.
Miraculously, he survived the shooting but needed major reconstructive surgery on his face which left him in hospital for two months.
Perry, Smith and Livingston-Wright were all convicted of attempted murder after Winchester Crown Court heard it would be impossible to say which one pulled the trigger on the victim.
Hodgkinson was convicted of assisting in the commission of an indictable only offence for her part in luring Sibley out before the attack.
Now the group have been sentenced to 95 years behind bars, with Livingston-Wright and Perry receiving 30 years, Smith 31 years and Hodgkinson four years.
The court had heard the three men had been part of the Big G gang, which was dealing drugs in Waterlooville, Hampshire, when they became involved in the turf war with rival gang Air and Tony.
Prosecutor Adam Feest QC told the court: ‘It was a revenge attack from one drug network on another.
‘The scene was set for revenge with Mr Sibley unaware of Ms Hodgkinson’s lure.
‘He went out to meet her but was surprised she was on the other side of the path when he saw two men emerge from the darkness before he was shot in the face and head.
‘The three defendants wanted to protect their profitable drug network.
‘It was a statement of their intentions to shoot whoever was working for the rival network – it mattered little who it was.
‘[Mr Sibley] saw a man reach into his jacket. He thought it was a weapon but didn’t think it was a gun. He was getting ready for a fight.’
Mr Feest said Perry, of Mitcham, Surrey, Smith, of Surbiton, London, and Livingston-Wright, of Brighton, East Sussex, travelled down from London to claim the Crookhorn area of Waterlooville when they heard about the turf war.
The prosecutor said the men admitted travelling to the area to address business matters but denied any knowledge of a shooting.
He added that it ‘may be impossible to tell who pulled the trigger’, but all three men were ‘involved in this criminal plan to take revenge’.
All four defendants denied the charges against them, but were convicted by a jury after a month long trial.
Speaking after their sentencing, Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Brown, said: ‘This case highlights the damage that drug-related harm causes in our communities and to individuals involved in drugs.
‘This incident was a particularly traumatic experience for Jay Sibley, who we now know was a drug user and was involved in the supply of controlled drugs at the time of the incident.
‘Today justice has been served and I hope that Jay can put this incident behind him and move on with this life.
‘I hope that the sentences received will serve as a warning to those people involved in drug dealing and the associated drug-related harm that we will not tolerate this in our communities.’
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