A man accused of a shooting in Huyton has told a jury he was "seeing a girl and doing a drugs run" at the time of the attack, in which the victim was asked "if he was Dusty" before being blasted with a sawn-off shotgun.
Leejay Heavey was shot in the leg on Radway Road, an incident the prosecution says was a "plan to intimidate" Jordan Thompson, also known as Dusty. Mr Heavey was said to have been "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and had one of his calf muscles surgically removed as a result.
Defendant's account
John Jones, 35, of Stamfordham Drive in Allerton, is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court with John Hughes, 32, of no fixed address. Both deny one count of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
Giving evidence on Thursday, Jones told the court he "would sell weed and grow some weed to make a living." Asked why he had visited Huyton on the night of the shooting, he said he "went to see a girl," but declined to name her, saying: "Not really. I was sleeping with her behind her boyfriend's back. Her boyfriend would end up doing her in. I'd rather not name her, to be honest."
He said the woman lived "by where we used to grow weed on Wimborne Close," a property he said had been raided by police around the time of the shooting. He said he stayed with her "until 10, quarter past, something."
Drugs run and CCTV
When asked if there was "any other reason he had gone to Huyton," Jones replied: "To see a girl and do a drugs run. I was supplying someone and I was collecting money. When I went to the [Swan] pub, I made that delivery in person."
He said he conducted the drug deal near the pub before going inside to phone for a taxi, as he did not have his mobile phone with him. When his counsel, Gordon Cole KC, put to him that CCTV in the toilets showed him "doing something either with his trousers or taking his trousers down," Jones said: "I nearly dropped a half ounce of weed down my pants, accidentally."
Asked if he was picked up in a van, was ever on the e-bike, or was involved in the shooting, Jones replied "no" to each question. He said he "did wear balaclavas sometimes" and that they would "all just get left in a bag" at his home, after his DNA was found on a balaclava recovered following the shooting.
Prosecution case
Alex Leach KC, for the crown, told the jury during the prosecution's opening that on 28 November 2025, Jones and Hughes "discharged two rounds from a sawn-off shotgun in the direction of a man called Leejay Heavey," but that shooting him "had not been their intended plan."
He said the plan was to intimidate Jordan Thompson, and that the defendants rode on an electric motorbike to his home. They saw Mr Heavey on the street, asked if he was Dusty, and when he said he wasn't, asked if he had come out of Dusty's house, which he denied.
"One of the defendants then discharged two rounds out of a sawn-off shotgun. The first round hit Leejay Heavey in the lower leg, and the second was discharged into the ground," Mr Leach said. He added that Mr Heavey "was in the wrong place at the wrong time and had nothing to do with Jordan Thompson."
Mr Heavey suffered two fractures to his fibula, with shotgun pellets lodged in the bone and muscle of his leg. He required a series of operations and skin grafts, leading to one of his calf muscles being removed.
The bike was seen travelling at speed on Liverpool Road, leading to a police pursuit. The riders discarded a Beretta double-barrel 12 gauge shotgun in the car park of the Oak Tree pub. Both men got off the bike on White Lodge Avenue, with one falling to the ground, before making their way across parkland. Jones was later seen entering the Swan pub shortly before 10.30pm, where CCTV showed him "lowering his trousers to inspect his leg" in the toilets. He took a taxi home, arriving at around 11pm.
Jones told the court he was never on an e-bike and cannot drive, and when asked if he was ever a passenger or in possession of a gun, he replied: "Most definitely not." The trial, before Mr Justice Bright, continues.
