A 20-year-old drug dealer was shot in the arm by armed police as officers moved to arrest him in Bury. Lewis Hanson suffered a broken elbow after a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer "felt compelled" to discharge his firearm during the operation in Whitefield on May 22, Manchester Crown Court heard on Wednesday.
Arrest and firearms discharge
Hanson was subsequently found to have been storing cocaine and cannabis at a flat in Radcliffe, where police also seized a converted blank-firing pistol. Hanson pleaded guilty to a number of drug and firearms offences and is due to be sentenced on Thursday (August 27). Another man, Paul Houghton, 40, who allowed him to use his flat to store drugs, was handed a suspended prison sentence.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) previously said it had launched an investigation into the firearms operation that resulted in Hanson being shot. On Wednesday, the court heard Hanson had been dealing cannabis since the age of 14 and had been trying to sell the gun before it was seized, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Surveillance and drugs seizure
Prosecuting, Caleb Suggitt told the court that police had been carrying out surveillance on Hanson, who was driving a white Cupra Ateca, at the time of the arrest on May 22. Hanson was seen visiting flats on Chapelfield in Radcliffe, Bury, including a flat owned by Houghton. He used the property to store cocaine and cannabis before selling the drugs at street level.
Mr Suggitt said police stopped Hanson's car at 3.10pm at the junction of Bury New Road and Chestnut Avenue in Whitefield. During his detention, "one of the attending armed officers felt compelled to discharge his firearm", the prosecutor said. Hanson was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary after being shot. Police found £3,520 worth of drugs in his car and a Retay 17 blank firing pistol - similar in design to a Glock 17 - in a bedroom of the flat.
Defence and sentencing
A mobile phone seized by police provided evidence that Hanson had been selling cannabis "in every year from 2020 when he was just 14 years of age, to the date of his arrest when he was 20". Defending Hanson, Mark Friend said his client had questioned "whether there was a need" for police to shoot him during his arrest. However, he noted that Hanson had pleaded guilty, which he said showed "remorse and contrition".
"He knows he did wrong, he knows there are consequences for that and he will accept them," Mr Friend said. "None of the offences to which Mr Hanson has pleaded guilty do him any credit at all." Mr Friend told the court that while on remand in prison, Hanson has not received the physiotherapy he was told he needed following his injury. Mr Friend said Hanson had "let his family down" and "wears that burden very heavily indeed".
Defending Houghton, Dan Gaskell said his client had been offered the opportunity to obtain "free cocaine" through his involvement. He said Houghton works full-time as a roofer and had stayed out of trouble for long periods. Hanson, of Parr Lane, Bury, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of a class B drug, conspiracy to sell a prohibited weapon, possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate, possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and possession of a class B drug with intent to supply.
Houghton, of Roch Crescent, Whitefield, pleaded guilty to permitting his premises to be used for the sale of class A and class B drugs. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete a three month alcohol treatment programme, 40 hours of unpaid work and five rehabilitation activity requirement days.
