Joseph Kidd, 42, from Portland Place in Everton, has been jailed for 11 years after shooting at a Sur-Ron rider in an alleyway in Litherland. Kidd, who featured on Channel 5's Hoarder Homes, was part of a five-person group that chased down the rider on the Pendle estate.
The electric bike rider escaped unharmed, and the group fled before being cornered by armed officers near Aintree racecourse.
From TV Cleaner to Convicted Gunman
Kidd, a former cleaning business owner, appeared on Channel 5's Hoarder Homes, where he travelled to Middlesbrough to help a family clear their overrun house. He also told his story on Billy Moore's All or Nothing podcast, claiming to have turned his life around after one of his best friends was murdered with a gun.
In his podcast appearance in February 2023, Kidd said he grew up around Scotland Road with a dad who was a boxing promoter and owned a nightclub. He said in his late teens he and his friends were devastated when their friend, innocent Craig Barker, was shot dead. Darren Waterhouse, an SAS-trained hitman, was hired by drug dealer William Moore to kill a rival over a feud. Waterhouse fired eight bullets at a Ford Galaxy, with seven hitting Mr Barker, 19, who was in the passenger seat.
The Shooting and Police Pursuit
At around 4pm on March 23 this year, police officers on patrol around Litherland's Pendle estate saw a Toyota Hilux pursuing a Sur-Ron rider. CCTV recovered as part of the investigation showed Lucas Maguire, 18, and Kenneth Quadrio, 23, being picked up by the car, which already had Kidd, Adam Bigley, 33, and Lee Nimbley, 21, in it.
The group followed the victim to Bowland Drive. A man got out of the car armed with a gun, while three others chased the rider. In an alleyway, one of the men shot at the rider, who escaped unharmed. The car was driven away, but armed response officers tracked and pursued it. At a set of lights on Melling Road, Aintree, the Toyota reversed back, damaging one of the pursuing police cars, at which point Quadrio and Maguire fled on foot.
Sentences Handed Down
Quadrio, located shortly after cowering in undergrowth close to the canal, told a passing member of the public: "Tell the streets Kenny Quad took one more Volvo off the road lad." Maguire ran through a back garden, claiming he had been robbed of his bike and phone. He was later arrested.
Bigley, Nimbley and Kidd remained in the car and drove off before abandoning it in Epsom Close. Bigley and Nimbley were intercepted by armed police on the canal towpath, having discarded a bag containing two guns, and Kidd was detained on Cheltenham Close. The firearms were recovered, and one was forensically linked to the shooting.
Bigley was jailed for 15 years with an extended four-year licence period, while Nimbley was sentenced to 11 years. Quadrio was jailed for four years, and Maguire was sentenced to 32 months in prison, suspended for two years. Kidd was convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life, two counts of conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, and conspiracy to possess ammunition. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Detective Inspector Chris Clark, from Merseyside Police's firearms investigation team, said: "The sentencing of these men should send a very clear message that Merseyside Police will not tolerate the use of firearms on our streets. All five men attempted to evade capture, but our officers were more than a match for them, and they have now faced the consequences of their actions. Bigley, Nimbley, Kidd and Quadrio are now behind bars, and unable to cause further harm to our communities, and our work to bring anyone involved in such dangerous offending to justice goes on."
