A couple sold a firearm to a leading gangster with a history of violence in an Aldi car park to fund "cosmetic dental work".
Police then discovered a second loaded firearm stashed inside a Berghaus man bag next to a pair of children's wellies when they raided the home of Fiona Crooks and Vincent Horsfall. The mum shouted "we're f***ed here" as she learned that officers had stormed their address.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Friday, that Horsfall bought a Colt firearm from a legitimate collector in Lancashire before selling it onwards to a Manchester-based convicted drug dealer. This man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also has previous convictions for offences including kidnapping and inflicting grievous bodily harm.
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Martyn Walsh, prosecuting, described how police found another firearm at Crooks' home on Wheatfield Close in Netherley in September 2021 alongside live ammunition. Both she and Horsfall had been living there with her six-year-old daughter, with the mum said to have "played her part by encouraging Horsfall to trade firearms in order to make money so they could enjoy the trappings of a luxurious lifestyle".
A joint operation by Merseyside Police and Greater Manchester Police discovered that an advertisement for the sale of a .41 caliber Colt Thunderer revolver handgun was placed online on a website called Gunstar for £2,100 in April 2021. Horsfall contacted the seller before travelling to Manchester, meeting the gangster and "taking receipt" of a stolen BMW X3.
Later the same day, both men met in vehicles on the car park of an Aldi supermarket - with Crooks driving her boyfriend to the location. On the afternoon of April 28, Horsfall and his dad, who did not face charges in connection with the case, attended an address in Lancaster to purchase the gun before both 30-year-old defendants met the "leading" organised crime group member in the same car park - with Crooks' daughter in the car - shortly before 6.30pm.
The weapon was handed over during this meeting, with the other man then leaving and heading back towards Manchester on the M62. But, at around 7.15pm, he was pulled over by armed police.
The male was seen reaching into the passenger footwell of the vehicle before being removed, with a search of his car finding the firearm in the glove compartment - wrapped in kitchen roll and "oiled" - alongside nearly £25,000 of cash in a plastic bag. The gun was found to be in working order and was successfully test fired, with Horsfall's DNA being discovered on it.
In August 2021, the couple went on holiday to Tenerife with Horsfall - formerly of Hyde Road, Waterloo - using a passport in the name of David Smith in order to travel. Upon their return, their car had been secretly bugged - with covert recordings subsequently capturing them discussing the potential sale of a firearm to someone who Crooks knew and believed to be a drug dealer.
Horsfall told his girlfriend during this conversation: "He'll defo buy it if he's doing drugs and that. Even if he just bought it to sell on and make a profit."
In another chat, he said that he was "talking life in jail" and that it was "the same as killing someone" for trading in firearms. On September 1, 2021, search warrants were executed at Wheatfield Close and another address on the Causeway in Southport.
At the former address, a loaded revolver was discovered in a Berghaus man bag inside a shoe cupboard at the bottom of the staircase next to the living room door and beside a child-sized Wellington boot. Bullets were found in each chamber of the gun, which had both Horsfall's and Crooks' DNA on it.
Under interview with police, she gave a prepared statement in which she "denied ever touching a firearm or ammunition and would never knowingly allow a gun to be kept in her property with her daughter". A cartridge which had been fired from this gun was recovered from the Southport address.
The couple's reaction when they learned of the raids was also captured by the recording equipment, with Crooks heard to say "I'm petrified". Horsfall replied: "It's me that's in trouble, not you.
"F***ing hell. You're acting like you're in trouble here."
Crooks added: "They're in the f***ing house. We're f***ed here."
Horsfall also fell to be sentenced for fraud offences after "offering firearms for sale" on Gun Star and a second website called Mil Web in late 2019. He received offers for the weapons and collected money from his victims, but never provided the goods.
Eight such transactions were recorded, but only three complainants cooperated with the police. From them, he took sums of £810, £390 and £360.
Horsfall previously worked "for many years" on the railways but lost his job. Simon Gledhill, defending, told the court that his client had been using "legitimate websites trading in lawful, antique firearms" and that he has a "long-standing interest in collecting antique weapons".
He added that the gun was "ordinarily stored in the loft, well out of reach of children", while he had been storing belongings at another house. Mr Gledhill said: "While there were fantasies about what they might do if they had excess money, the reality is quite different - he knows he should never have gone down this route, but he set off down this route from need rather than greed.
"He has tried to use his time in prison productively as he can. He has an eye to his release and obtaining legitimate employment so as to not find any reason to appear before these courts in future.
"In short, he has learned from this terrible experience. He is very sorry for having become involved in this situation and essentially involving Ms Crooks in this situation, and for the harm his actions potentially could have caused."
Crooks, who has no previous convictions, worked as a nursery nurse practitioner for nearly a decade. Paul Becker, appearing on her behalf, said: "There is clearly a significant difference in their roles.
"The defendant is a comparatively young lady of previous good character. She was in a bad place with her mental health at the time and obviously made a serious error of judgement.
"She has expressed sincere regret and remorse for her very serious offending. She should be given a chance - she is a young lady who has made a serious error of judgement, but everyone is entitled to a second chance."
Horsfall - who appeared via video link to HMP Liverpool - admitted selling a firearm, possession of a firearm and ammunition and three counts of fraud and was jailed for six years and nine months. Crooks pleaded guilty to intentionally encouraging the commission of an offence and was handed two years.
Sentencing, Judge Garrett Byrne said: "Firearms can be used to maim and kill. This city has recently suffered a spate of shootings, resulting in the deaths of young people and even children.
"The firearm was sold not only to a man with a criminal record, but a man with a leading role in an organised crime group and dealing with the trafficking of class A drugs. You must have known full well there was a high probability that gun you supplied him with would have been used for criminal purposes.
"But you nevertheless turned a blind eye to it. There did come a time when the weapon was removed from the attack and placed in a box on a shoe rack, easily accessible to a child."
To Crooks, the judge added: "You did this out of greed, for cash to be able to afford cosmetic dental work among other things. You encouraged him whole heartedly in all his criminality.
"This is not a sentence I can suspend. The offending is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified."
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