Trio jailed for life after shooting innocent grandfather in murder caught on doorbell camera
Three men have been sentenced to life imprisonment after an innocent man was shot to death through his living room window.
Children were playing in Elm Street, Stanley, County Durham, when grandfather Barry Dawson, 60, was killed on Saturday, April 5 this year.
The murder was caught on the doorbell camera.
Sean Reay, 30, and his partners Kelvin Lawson, 38, and Thomas Sterling, 22, were found guilty after a trial concluded at Teesside Crown Court in October.
His Honor Judge Cotter sentenced gunman Reay, of Stanley Sabin Terrace, to a minimum of 32 years in prison.
Lawson, of Frosterley Gardens, Stanley, who broke the downstairs window of the terraced house so the other defendants could get a clearer shot, was jailed for a minimum of 28 years.
Sterling, of The Avenue, Stanley, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years. The judge said he was part of a “show of force” on the street that day.
A single shot struck Mr. Dawson in the chest; It punctured his heart, lungs and liver.
He had been living on the streets for over 20 years and was a beloved member of the community.
Shocking doorbell footage shows the shooting followed by Mr Dawson’s son Shane shouting: “They shot my dad.”
Mr Justice Cotter said: “This was an extraordinary crime on an ordinary residential street.
“This was the kind of thing most people only saw on TV or in the movies, but we don’t see it in this country.”
In a victim impact statement, Mr Dawson’s partner Sarah Hopwood said the man people knew as Buck was an “admired father and grandfather”.
He said: “This terrible crime broke our hearts and is something from which we will never recover.”
The court heard Reay set out to seek revenge following a suspected drug-related altercation outside his home earlier that day, during which he claimed a man had threatened to burn down his house.
Reay’s gang believed that the person responsible was at Mr. Dawson’s house and were hoping to get him out by breaking the windows.
Mr. Dawson, who had been resting upstairs and had nothing to do with the earlier troubles outside Reay’s house, came down to see what was going on.
Mr Justice Cotter said Reay was in charge, while Lawson and Sterling were “key lieutenants”.
The judge said the three men lived by a rule that viewed police as the enemy.
“Over the decades you spend in prison, you can think about where your rules have gotten you,” he said.
“Until you reject the law, it will not be safe for you to rejoin society.”
Reay hired Kevin Dorward, 38, to drive them to the shooting, and his cousin Keith Dorward, 48, came with them.
They were cleared of murder but admitted perverting the course of justice by trying to burn the getaway car.
Kevin Dorward’s partner Michaela Hetherington also admitted perverting the course of justice by claiming to police the car had been stolen.
The judge sentenced Kevin Dorward, who was living in Annfield Plain at the time, to 20 months, Keith Dorward to 16 months and Hetherington to 15 months; This means he will be released immediately after 246 days in detention.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil Fuller, Senior Investigating Officer for Durham Constabulary’s Operation Hamnett, said: “I hope this investigation sends a clear message to criminals that we will not allow this type of extreme violence on our streets.
“Weapons have no place on our streets and we take a zero-tolerance approach in combating 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 are with those who loved him.”
