He also fired gunshots towards two men while cycling through the streets
A teenager who fired a bullet into a home occupied by a mother, her 10-month-old baby, and her elderly mother shouted “see you guys, bye” as he was sent to custody.
Jama Yusuf discharged seven gunshots towards two men while riding a bicycle through Toxteth, with stray rounds striking a parked van and the brickwork of another house. When police arrived at his door two days later, he asked officers: “Was it a bad shooting? Did anyone get hurt?”
Despite CCTV capturing Yusuf in a local store shortly beforehand wearing the same clothing as the cyclist, he denied being the gunman. Following a trial, he was unanimously convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of ammunition without a certificate, and two counts of criminal damage, reports The Echo.
Appearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, Yusuf was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in a young offenders’ institution. As he was led down to the cells, his mother waved from the public gallery before he called out.
Sentencing, Judge Ian Harris told him: “You fired seven bullets towards two unknown males. One went through a double glazed window. Fortunately, it missed an elderly lady who was in her daughter’s house. Additionally, other members of family, including a 10-month-old baby, were in the house, although fortunately not in that living room.
“Other bullets you fired damaged brickwork, a metal shutter and the rear door of a Peugeot van. During routine house to house enquiries, police called at your address, close to the scene of the shooting. Police become suspicious about your reactions.
“There is enormous public concern about gun crime. Firearms cause death and grievous injuries. In your case, the gun that you used has not been recovered and, therefore, must still be in criminal circulation.
“The evidence is that seven shots were fired at two individuals in an 18-second period. You then rode away on your cycle. The fact that no individual was shot was, in my judgement, sheer good fortune. You could easily be facing more serious charges.
“Ms Abdi, the householder, said that they were all extremely shaken and scared, especially her elderly mother, who had been sitting by the window. Her scarf had fragments of glass from the window on it.
“There was some planning for the offences. Once you saw the two men, you went to collect the pistol. You had a face covering. You knew your routes extremely well and were able to escape without detection. You subsequently discarded the clothing that you had on, in my judgement, to avoid detection, if at all possible.
“The motive for this offending is unknown. In my judgement, it was clearly connected with serious ongoing criminal activity. The major mitigating factor is your age, 18 years and seven months old at the time of the offending.
“I note the contents of the pre-sentence report. The probation officer sets out that you still deny responsibility for the offences. She mentions that your maturity is not fixed and your positive engagement with education while in custody, your mentoring role and family support suggests that there are possibilities for you to develop and change.
“However, she sets out that the escalation in your offending will require substantial work. Notwithstanding concerns expressed in the pre-sentence report about risk, I note the absence of any previous serious offences, your age and the degree of optimism about your future, albeit you will need strict guidance. Given the length of time that you will spend in custody, I have decided that I do not need to pass an extended determinate sentence.”
A jury of seven men and five women previously heard in July that the seven gunshots were discharged by the cyclist as he rode along Millennium Road, Seaport Street and Kingsley Road shortly after midnight on October 5 last year while supposedly firing in the direction of two other men, who fled the scene on foot and on another bicycle. Steven Swift, prosecuting, told the court: “One of the bullets embedded itself into the living room wall of the home address of Ms Hiba Abdi.
“She resides with her mother and 10-month-old baby at Kingsley Road. She could recall being upstairs, searching for a phone charger at this time, her mother sitting downstairs on a sofa under the window, when she heard a shout, a scream.
“Her mother was really unable to appreciate what had just happened. She thought that somebody might have thrown something at the window. On closer inspection, it became clear that there was a small hole in the blind and curtain and a bullet had gone through, missing Ms Abdi’s elderly mother.
“You will hear evidence that another bullet damaged the brickwork of an address on Seaport Street. Another damaged the rear door of a Peugeot Boxer van parked on Seaport Street, and there was other damage to metal shutters on Granby Street.”
CSI officers subsequently recovered seven spent bullet casings and five live 9mm rounds from the scene, with CCTV enquiries subsequently linking Yusuf to the incident. Footage from the body worn camera of a police officer, captured in August of last year as the 19-year-old was stopped and searched, showed him wearing a dark coloured Rab coat with his hood up, a garment said to match that of the alleged gunman when he was seen rolling a cigarette in the communal hallway of a block of flats on Parliament Place and buying milk from Granby Minimarket earlier on the evening of the shooting.
Yusuf was also said to have been seen “making a gun gesture with his hand” while cycling past the same shop on a red bike shortly before midnight. Having then made his purchase, jurors were told that he returned to his home on Eversley Street, being seen in the rear courtyard of this address before leaving again shortly afterwards in the minutes before the shooting.
Mr Swift added: “Just after nine minutes after midnight, the gunshots are heard. You may think that multiple discharges of a gun, aimed towards two individuals, demonstrates the clearest intention to endanger the lives of those individuals.”
Further footage was said to have captured Yusuf returning home once more at 12.11am before leaving again and returning to Parliament Place in a change of clothing. He was then seen shopping with his mum at Footasylum on Edge Lane the following day while buying new clothes.
Two days after the shooting, on October 7, officers conducting house to house enquiries in the area visited Yusuf’s home address. Having been asked for access to his Ring doorbell camera, he was reported to have replied: “Well, wasn’t it all the way over on Kingsley?”
After being told that police required the footage in order to trace the movements of the suspect, Yusuf then added: “Was it a bad shooting? Did anyone get hurt?”
Mr Swift said of this: “The crown say that this interaction with the police is significant. It was as a result of that conversation and the nature of the responses provided by the defendant that enquiries commenced.”
This led to Yusuf handing himself in at St Anne Street Police Station on October 9, subsequently making no comment when interviewed on this occasion and during a second round of questioning in December. Mr Swift concluded his opening by telling the jury: “The crown say that this defendant was the man with the gun, firing live bullets in Toxteth in the early hours of the morning on the 5th of October and that, having heard all of the evidence in this case, the crown say that you can be sure of his guilt in relation to the counts he faces.”
Yusuf, who has two previous convictions for possession of a bladed article in a public place and possession of cannabis in 2024, opted not to give evidence during his trial. Philip Astbury, defending, said on his behalf today: “There is very little that I can say about the incident itself, given the defendant’s continued position.
“The suggestion was that there is evidence this was aimed at the two individuals. I would invite the court to exercise caution before concluding that is exactly what happened here.
“We know there was no injury. Something happened. The jury were clearly satisfied that there was an intent to endanger life. Your honour may feel it is a step too far to conclude, at close range, that it was aimed at those two individuals.
“He was only 18 at the time. He has never experienced custody. To now go to facing the type of sentence that he does, it does not need me to explain the impact of that and the trepidation he now has.
“Your honour sees that he successfully passed his GCSEs. He was at college up until the point that he was arrested for these matters. He was hoping to go on in education. There is a very different side to his character. I pray in aid that side of his character and the promise he still holds for the future. He looks forward and not back.
“Your honour knows that he has an extremely supportive family. Your honour will have seen his parents in attendance at the trial on each and every day. They are a supportive and very positive family.
“Both of his sisters graduated during the course of the trial. He will be surrounded, when he is released, by positive influences in the family. They stand by him. What your honour would not want to do, I am sure, is crush this young man or leave no light at the end of the tunnel for him to work towards.”
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