A fugitive drug dealer was today handed a life sentence for taking part in the shocking murder of a dad who was shot dead in a street in front of playing children 'to send a chilling message' to rivals.
Wade Cox, 32, blasted rival drug dealer Luke Graham at point blank range through the window of a van as children played nearby. Cox was ordered to serve at least 36 years in jail after being convicted of murder in 2019.
Today (Friday) his henchman, who fled to Portugal after helping Cox commit murder, has also been jailed for life. Callum Halpin gave his mother the thumb's up sign before he was led away to serve a minimum 30 years behind bars.
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A court heard Mr Graham, who had served spells in prison and was said to be turning his life around, had become involved in cannabis dealing. Cox and Halpin arranged the hit to 'send a chilling message' to their rivals.
After Halpin was jailed at Minshull Street Crown Court, Mr Graham's father Peter praised the police investigation and said Halpin was 'nothing to me'.
He told the M.E.N: "It's just a massive thank you to GMP. They never gave up." Asked about Halpin, Mr Graham continued: "He's not a normal person is he?! He's nothing to me, he's completely nothing along with the other one Cox. They can serve their time together."
He said he now looks after his late son's two children and regularly visited his son's grave. Luke would have been 36 in March and at the time of his death had just past his driving test and had hoped to begin working with his brother, said Mr Graham.
The trial heard Halpin shut door of the van in which Mr Graham was shot, to prevent any escape. He also took the gun from Cox after the murder and helped arrange an Audi which the pair had arrived in to be burnt out. After the killing, on June 13, 2018, Halpin fled the country and became one of the UK's most wanted men, spending almost four years on the run.
He was eventually caught in May last year in Portugal at an address near Vilamoura at a luxury resort in the Algarve. Now following a trial at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, Halpin, of Beede Street, Openshaw, was convicted of murder. By their verdicts, the jury accepted the defendant 'encouraged and assisted' the killing.
The trial heard the murder was part of a drugs turf war. "It may well be the activities of Luke Graham and Anton Verigotta as rival drug dealers to Wade Cox and his associates provides some explanation for the extreme hostility that appears to lay behind this shooting," prosecutor Richard Pratt KC said.
Mr Graham and his associate, Anton Verigotta, had both been in Ashton-under-Lyne on the afternoon of June 13. Mr Verigotta had been to a 'crack house' on Birch Street, several times that day to supply drugs, jurors were told.
On his last visit, at around 4:40pm, Mr Graham was with him. Soon after they left, one of the occupants of the house said three 'boys' wearing balaclavas entered. One said of Mr Verigotta 'get him back here now'.
As the man inside the house 'did as he was told' and made the call, one of the three men said: ''No funny business or I'll put you one in your leg, just make the phone call." CCTV footage showed a silver Audi containing Cox, a second man, and Mr Halpin, arriving on Birch Street at 4:45pm with all three men going into the property, Mr Pratt told the trial.
Minutes later, a van being driven by Mr Verigotta with Mr Graham in the passenger seat arrived. Cox emerged from the house and fired his gun through the van's passenger window, hitting Mr Graham to the shoulder. The gunshot proved fatal.
Cox also fired shots at Mr Verigotta, who was blasted in the leg as he 'ran for his life'. After Halpin emerged from the house, Halpin stopped Mr Graham from escaping from the van.
Mr Graham was hit with one bullet in the shoulder, causing fatal injuries from which he later died in hospital. Mr Verigotta 'lived to tell the tale'.
Leon Kazakos KC, defending Halpin, urged the judge give his client 'some hope of release at some point', and he told the court: "It's plain from the jury's verdict he became involved in somebody else's criminality."
The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, told Halpin: "Luke Graham was 31 and he had two children who have grown up without a father."
The judge went on that she had read from his family 'how much Luke Graham loved his children' and that he had 'tried to turn his life around' despite spending some spells in prison.
Judge Cheema-Grubb said at the time of his death Mr Graham had become involved in supplying drugs but he had also passed his driving test with a view to getting a job. In his victim personal statement, she said Mr Graham's father had thought about the the ways he could have saved his son and how his death was like something from a dream to him.
Speaking to Halpin, she added: "You are a confident, intelligent man. In 2018 you had somewhere to live, a girlfriend and you had some skills and training but you were growing cannabis with others involved in that world. That was your choice. You enjoyed going to the gym to build yourself up and project that kind of image. I reject the argument that you were gullible."
It had been 'your choice' to wear gloves and a balaclava to go looking for rival dealers, said the judge, who went on the shooting was 'particularly serious' as it happened in a street where children were cycling and playing.
"There was significant planning and premeditation. Your intention was to send a chilling message to rival drug dealers," said Judge Cheema-Grubb.
Halpin turned to his mother in the public gallery and gave her the thumb's up when he was taken down to begin his life sentence.
After the hearing, Detective Inspector Lee Barrow who oversaw the original investigation in 2019, said: "Halpin is a very dangerous individual who has finally been brought to justice. The murder was carried out on a residential street with children having to run to cover.
"Halpin had been on the run since Luke was fatally shot on that tragic day and it has been our intention ever since to ensure all those suspected of being responsible for his death are caught and prosecuted.
"I want to thank partners from the National Crime Agency for their work in arresting Halpin and I know this will send a strong message that we are totally committed to working with law enforcement agencies across the world to ensure those wanted are caught wherever they try to hide, and ultimately face the serious charges they are accused of."
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