Neighbours have spoken of the moment a blast left two dead
A mum who died following a ‘grenade attack’ saved a the life of a child moments before the blast. A neighbour has told told how Joanne Shaw, 35, instructed the youngster to play outside in the garden when an argument erupted in the early hours of Sunday morning, The Mirror exclusively reveals.
Stuart Blanchard, who lives a few doors down, said: “I spoke to the guy who called 999 and he said the child was out on the trampoline. It will haunt [them].
“She probably told [the child] to go out there to get out of the way of them arguing. I was woken to her [Joanne] shouting ‘go away, go away’ and then there was this loud boom that shook my door and windows.”
He spoke hours after Avon and Somerset Police named Joanne and ex-partner Ryan Kelly, 41, as the two victims. The force said the couple had a history of domestic incidents and referred itself to the police watchdog.
Kelly, 41, who was previously convicted for being a foot soldier in a Breaking Bad-style drugs gang, allegedly arrived at Joanne’s home with a grenade and detonated it on the doorstep.
Neighbour Stuart continued: “The partner’s [Kelly’s] gone there in a mental state. It wasn’t Jo’s house, it was her parent’s, she just lived there. She had split up with him and I think she moved there to escape from him.”
He added: “Another friend said he saw the police giving Jo CPR but when the explosives team arrived they had to leave in case there were more explosions. It was awful for them. I used to see Jo most mornings when I was walking the dog, she was a lovely woman.”
Police rushed to the terrace home in the Frenchay area of Bristol at 06:17am on Sunday morning, after reports of a domestic incident. The explosion happened just after 06:30am.
A friend of Joanne’s mother told the Mirror she instinctively knew the blast was something to do with Ryan Kelly. “I’m afraid I just knew it had to be him because of what’s gone on with him before,” she said.
“I haven’t spoken to my friend since it happened and I can’t begin to think how she’s coping with this. It’s just terrible when bad men do bad things.
“She [Joanne] was the loveliest, kindest lady and she didn’t deserve this. The family doesn’t deserve it. I shouldn’t think they’ll ever want to come and live back here. [Joanne and Ryan’s] relationship wasn’t good – I don’t know why he would have done such a terrible thing.”
Neighbour Michael Gwyther, who recognised Kelly, said: “I just heard a blast, I thought someone was trying to kick through the door. They have been quiet recently. It was frightening and it set the dog right off.”
Another local, Kwestan Ahmed, added: “I heard screaming and shouting’ but I’m not sure if it was them or the police. I thought the bang was a car crash, I’d never never think it could be a bomb.”
Kelly was locked up for five years in 2015 after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine for a crystal meth gang masterminded by a 78-year-old battling cancer.
The trial at the time heard how the OAP ran the plot from prison despite his illness and recruited a self-taught chemist to set up a lab and make the highly addictive drug crystal meth.
He formed a UK-wide team, that included Kelly, who obtained a kilo of cocaine and planned to sell it for £60,000 so they could buy chemicals and equipment from the Netherlands needed to manufacture the drugs.
The case was compared to US TV show Breaking Bad where high school chemistry teacher Walter White starts making crystal meth to raise money after he is diagnosed with lung cancer. But unlike the fictional version, the real-life plot was busted before they could start work after undercover police bugged their cars.
Avon and Somerset Police Superintendent Matt Ebbs said: “We know people will be shocked and upset to learn of the horrendous events that happened on Sunday morning.
“Jo’s death has been officially recorded as a homicide based on the information known to us at this time. We are not looking for anyone else in connection with her death.
“We know everyone’s thoughts and sympathies will be with her devastated family. Specially-trained officers are providing them with updates and support.
“We recognise there is significant interest in what happened, but at the centre of it there are many people grieving and we would please ask everyone respects that and gives them the privacy they want.”
“Police activity continues to be carried out at the property in Sterncourt Road and we expect this will take several days to be completed.
“We would like to reassure the public there is not believed to be any wider risk to safety and this is not being treated as terrorism-related.”
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