Merciless murderers who executed their victim in a horrifying 'revenge' drive-by shooting have been imprisoned for at least 87 years. Connor Brookes and his mate Bradley Sladyszyn were shot with a double-barrelled sawn-off shotgun as they sat in a parked van in Walsall.

A nicked black Ford Focus was spotted 'rolling slow' just six seconds before a back window lowered and the gun was brandished. The balaclava-wearing gunman then fired a single shot at close range towards the duo in what prosecutors claim was retaliation for the murder of Bailey Atkinson.

Connor, 20, was left 'slumped' against the window in the driver's seat of the van, with emergency services pulling him from the wrecked vehicle, reports . Paramedics were then compelled to perform an operation at the roadside in Well Lane in a desperate bid to save his life.

However, a wound to his head caused by a 'slug of metal' from the shotgun passing through his brain proved fatal. Bradley survived the attempt on his life, later recounting how he ducked after hearing a 'loud bang' but was shot in the shoulder during the ordeal on July 8 last year.

Jake Sanbrook, Byron Sellick and Julian Falconer were today (Friday, May 30) handed life sentences and each told to serve a minimum of 29 years. They had denied murdering Connor, attempting to murder Bradley and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. But jurors at Wolverhampton Crown Court convicted the murderous trio of all charges on April 16.

Samuel Danks-Petty was convicted of performing acts intended to pervert the course of public justice, receiving a three-year prison sentence today after he assisted the murderers by driving them away from the crime scene and helped dispose of the Ford in Achilles Lane post-shooting. Falconer was found guilty of an additional charge of possessing a blade after being caught with a kitchen knife upon his arrest on 2 August last year in Dudley.

Judge Michael Chambers KC, during sentencing, remarked: "This was a so-called drive-by shooting and a tit-for-tat gang-related execution." He further noted, "It was a brazen attack in a public place where there were shops, residential properties and members of the public going about their business." The court learnt that all defendants were acquaintances of Bailey, who 'like lions on prey' fell victim to a gang assault led by Connor's brother, Patrick Brookes, sentenced to life for Bailey's murder only six weeks prior.

During an appalling onslaught in Walsall, Bailey was slashed with a 24cm Rambo knife, as was disclosed at Wolverhampton Crown Court; additionally, Bradley's cousin Benjamin Wilkes was implicated as one of the assailants. Despite protestations from those close to him, claiming Connor was not gang-affiliated but rather an unintended casualty of feuding factions.

The prosecution's case demonstrated Sanbrook behind the wheel of the Ford, flanked by Sellick and Falconer. The court was told that the car, stolen from Coventry on June 20 and sporting false plates, became central to a fatal shooting. Jurors were informed of an initial shooting on Stephenson Avenue, occurring less than 10 minutes before the tragic incident in Well Lane.

The Ford, seen speeding along Stephenson Avenue, was caught on camera being pursued by a Nissan Qashqai. Despite 'two loud bangs' ringing out, there were no casualties reported. Connor was spotted entering a shop on Well Lane, roughly one and a half miles from Stephenson Avenue, before climbing into the van just before 5pm. As the Ford neared the junction with Chaucer Road on Well Lane, its rear passenger window seemed closed. However, as it turned into Well Lane, the window was wound down and the car's pace reduced.

A shotgun blast came from 'a gunman in the back of that car', although the shooter remains unidentified. Prosecutor Michael Burrows KC, laying out the case earlier, stated: "This was a joint enterprise." He emphasised that all occupants of the car were complicit, saying: "All those in the car must have been in on the shooting, each of them sharing the intention to kill." Danks-Petty was elsewhere during the shooting, engaged in a driving lesson.

Nevertheless, he later drove a Mazda to rendezvous with the murderers before escorting them to Sanbrook's residence on Fisher Road, within the Mossley estate. The abandoned Ford was retrieved by police four days on, containing both gunshot residue and DNA traces from Sanbrook and Danks-Petty.

The accused are:

Jake Sanbrook, 23, of Fisher Road, Bloxwich

Byron Sellick, 20, of no fixed abode

Julian Falconer, 20, of Wyrley Close, Willenhall

Samuel Danks-Petty, 21, of Buildwas Close, Walsall