Three Men Jailed For Shooting At House Window In Wales
This video shows the moment a gunman shot through the bedroom window of a home in Wales earlier this year, leading to the imprisonment of three men.
The shooting incident took place outside a terraced property in the village of Trecynon near the town of Aberdare in the Welsh county of Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The three defendants were sentenced to jail terms at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court. Oliver Pearce and James Drakes were jailed for five years while co-defendant Ricky Webber received a two-year prison sentence.
In the video, a BMW is seen pulling up outside the victim’s house before at least one man gets out and apparently shoots four times at an upper window.
The footage also shows the moment Welsh officers arrest a suspect at night and another in the street during the day.
The South Wales Police shared footage of the shooting and arrests on social media on 23rd December with the message: “Three men who were involved in an #Aberdare shooting have been jailed for a total of 12 years.”
The police continued: “At 9:35pm on 1st February (2021) they travelled to the Windsor Street in Oliver Pearce’s white BMW. They pulled-up outside the house where Pearce and Drakes got out the car and shouted the name of the occupant.
At the time, Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lewis said: “Gun crime is almost unheard of in the region – the incident shocked the local community and we were determined to identify who was responsible. We had a team of officers working around the clock to make that happen.”
The South Wales Police said: “Detectives carried out door to door enquiries and scanned hundreds of hours of CCTV footage. The shooting was captured on CCTV from a nearby house and CCTV from a nearby shop captured the white BMW driving around the local area prior to the shooting.
“From that, officers established the registration of the car and were able to track its movements before and after the incident.
“The registered keeper of the vehicle was Oliver Pearce and the day after the incident officers arrested him outside his Rhydyfelin home. Ricky Webber was arrested two days later.
“Examinations of mobile phones belonging to the defendants confirmed lots of calls and messages between them in the run up to, and on the day of the shooting. They had all turned their phones off at the time of the shooting.
“A mobile phone used by James Drakes was then linked to a network in Workington, England. Officers identified the car used and they tracked it back to south Wales where a roadside camera captured Drakes in the driving seat.”
In the statement on 23rd December, the police added: “Oliver Pearce, of Rhydyfelin, and James Drakes, from Tylorstown, were each sentenced to five years, while Ricky Webber, from Porth, was jailed for two years at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.”
