Northampton judge jails gang member who defied firearms ban by using pistol to smash car window

A man who had served time for shooting a 15-year-old used a gun to intimidate a couple driving home, Northampton Crown Court heard.

Daniel John Stray, 25, was given a lifetime ban from owning or possessing firearms after he was convicted of GBH with a sawn-off shotgun in 2017.

But, on March 4 last year, a man and woman were travelling in Wellingborough at about 9.10pm when they saw a group of men running out of an alleyway and get into a VW Polo.

About 15 minutes later they saw the Polo which then mounted the kerb in an attempt to stop them from driving off.

A man they knew to be Stray, of Cedar Way, Wellingborough, appeared on foot and banged on a window with a gun.

The victim shouted to his female driver: “He’s got a f****** gun. Drive!”

They avoided more attempts block them by the Polo and drove straight to the nearby police station for their own safety.

Officers later discovered a box in the defendant’s living room containing a knife, ammunition including shotgun cartridges and three 9mm rounds compatible with a handgun they found which experts confirmed was capable of causing life-altering injuries.

Prosecuting, Caroline Bray said: “Stray’s phone was also seized. Its contents demonstrated history with a criminal gang-related lifestyle and behaviour.”

Stray had a list of 22 convictions for violence and drug offences going back to 2010 when he was found guilty of robbery aged just 13.

Back in 2015 he was convicted by Northampton Crown Court for possession of a sawn-off shotgun and jailed for five years and two years later he was convicted the shooting of a 15-year-old in the leg.

He had also been convicted in 2016 of possession of a knife.

During the court hearing on Friday (May 27), the female driver of the car said she had felt anxious and nervous since the attack and as if people were ‘looking at her’. She has also stayed at home more and said she is now worried about going out.

Ms Bray added: “People won’t go to her house any more because they are worried about what she’s become a part of.”

The male victim revealed that last August, people associated with Stray were released from prison with no bail conditions leaving him vulnerable.

He said: “I still feel like a victim.”

In mitigation, higher court advocate Liam Muir said that there was insufficient evidence to show Stray attempted to steal the victim’s car or was involved with the group in the Polo.

He said that, since the incident, Stray had become a father for the first time and there had been a ‘substantial change in maturity.’

Stray, who is also known as Daniel John Jones, Daniel John Jones-Stray and Daniel Jones-Stray, pleaded guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He also admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition with intent to cause his victim to believe unlawful violence would be used.

He was jailed for six years, nine months in total.