TWO men have each been jailed for seven years after a shooting in a quiet residential street in Billericay.
Patrick Flanigan, a driver from Oak Road South in Benfleet, and John Turner, a maintenance worker of no fixed address, were convicted of being in possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence on March 17.
Patrick Flanigan was further convicted of being in possession of a tear gas spray.
At 7pm on May 17 last year, police were contacted after reports of shots being fired from a vehicle along Mill Road.
Five bullets were blasted from a car into a BMW parked outside a house, but no one was injured.
A few days later, Flanigan and Turner, both 27, were arrested.
The owner of the BMW, Stephen Fay, who was in the front room of his house at the time of the shooting, spoke to the Gazette shortly after the incident last year. He said: "It was lucky no one was killed."
This week, Mr Fay added: "I am aware that the two men have been jailed for seven years and it is all out of our hands now."
Neighbours recalled their concern when the peace of their usually quiet neighbourhood was shattered.
Philippa Brown, of Mill Road, said: "My son heard the gun shots and I came back home a bit later, it was actually my birthday that day, and the whole road was closed off.
"It was really shocking and so lucky that no one got hurt. My neighbours were very close to getting in the middle of it – they had just gone out but realised they had forgotten something so left the kids in the car while they went back into the house.
"They drove off just minutes before the shooting happened."
Another neighbour living on Mill Road, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "It was a huge surprise and not something you would expect in this area.
"We heard the shots and knew the family living in the house that was targeted – it was very shocking."
Investigating officer DI Stephen Jennings said: "This was a serious incident which triggered a major police investigation.
"Shootings are extremely rare in Essex which is why, when they do happen, we become even more determined than ever to identify the culprits.
"These convictions and sentences mean that two potentially dangerous men will be off the county's streets for many years."
