It has now been 13 years since Manchester’s own ‘Al Capone’ was jailed for life for his involvement in the Gooch Gang’s ‘Wild West’ crime spree.
That means Colin Joyce, portrayed as the south Manchester gang’s ‘general’ during the trial in April 2009, is one-third of the way through his life-term prison sentence of 39 years. A jury at Liverpool Crown Court found Joyce, then 29, and 10 other henchmen guilty of 26 out of 27 offences.
They included the murder of Ucal Chin, 24, and then Tyrone Gilbert, 23, who was shot at Ucal’s wake in Longsight. Those murders were either motivated by ‘mindless gang warfare with a territorial cause’ or were to ‘eliminate their opposition in the drugs trade’, Mr Justice Langstaff concluded in his sentencing hearing .
Throughout the hearing, the jury heard how the Gooch Gang took guns into nightclubs to fire at members of the public who had offended them in the street. That was alongside luring children into their criminal empire, tasking them with selling drugs on the street.
It was a string of offending which Mr Justice Langstaff likened to the Al Capone-era of gangland violence in the US during prohibition in the 1920s.
“Manchester is not the Wild West, but many of you treated its streets as if it were,” he said. “[It is] reminiscent of Al Capone and Chicago in the era of prohibition.”
The most devastating crimes in the rampage were the murders of Ucal Chin and Tyrone Gilbert. Mr Chin was 24-years-old when he was shot dead in June 2007.
The court heard that he was driving in Longsight when he was ambushed by his killers and shot seven times. Then, a few weeks later, an impromptu wake was held for Mr Chin.
That was attended by Tyrone Gilbert, who was one of 80 mourners at a domestic address in south Manchester. Shortly after midnight, however, he and the party were sprayed with bullets in another drive-by.
Tyrone died at the scene. But Joyce was not the only man to be convicted for their involvement in the killing.
Lee Amos, aged 33 at trial, was also found guilty for the murder of Tyrone and the attempted murder of Michael Gordon. Alongside the pair were Aeeron Campbell of Withington, Narada Williams of Fallowfield, and his brother Ricardo, of Moston, also found guilty of murder. Amos and Narada Williams were told they would serve 35 years in prison, Ricardo Williams was given a minimum of 34 years while Campbell was jailed for at least 32 years.
Other members of the gang included Aaron Alexander, Hassan Shah, Kayael Wint, Ricci Moss, Tyler Joel Mullings, and Gonoo Hussain. They were put away for a variety of firearm and drug offences, and were jailed for between five to 13 years.
But Joyce's lack of remorse continued right into his sentencing. As Joyce, who defended himself, was sentenced, he said: “It is drunken hysterical media coverage. It is a circus and is not going to make any difference.
“I have no doubt from the outset of this case you have made up your mind but it is not going to take away the freedom I have within me or the innocence I have got.”
After he spoke he was clapped by his co-defendants — which was met with audible disgust by the victims’ families.
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