BOY SHOT IN STREET 'WAS MURDERED BY MISTAKE'

A BOY of five shot dead in a street near his home was the innocent
victim of a dispute between drugs dealers, a court was told yesterday.

Dillon Hull died instantly when he was hit in the head by a bullet
allegedly intended for his stepfather, John Bates.

Mr Bates, 28, a small-time drugs dealer, had been walking hand-in-hand
with the child when they were confronted near the centre of Bolton,
Greater Manchester, by a man wearing a motorcycle helmet, Preston
Crown Court was told.

The man drew a gun and began firing, said Anthony Gee, QC,
prosecuting. He fired at least two shots and probably more. "One of
these shots wounded Mr Bates in the side of his body while another
struck Dillon in the head, killing him instantly," said Mr Gee.

After the murder, the gunman fled down an alleyway, discarding the
motorcycle helmet and abandoning the yellow Austin Metro in which he
had arrived.

Mr Gee said of Dillon: "He became a tragic and innocent victim of a bungled
attempt to murder his stepfather."

The prosecution alleges that the man who carried out the killing on
Aug 6 last year was Paul Seddon, 27, of Bolton. He denies murdering
Dillon and attempting to murder Mr Bates.

Three other men deny conspiring with him to murder Mr Bates. They are
David Hargreaves, 24, Craig Hollinrake, 25, and Brian Roper, 22, all
of Bolton.

Hargreaves and Hollinrake have pleaded guilty to conspiring to pervert
the course of justice by procuring the alteration of a taxi firm's
records knowing they would form part of the police murder
investigation.

Mr Gee said Mr Bates was a small-time drugs dealer who, in February
last year, moved from Blackburn to live with his girlfriend, Jane
Hull, in Bolton. His drug-dealing in the Blackburn area led him into
conflict with a gang of Bolton-based drugs dealers, among them
Hargreaves. It appeared, said Mr Gee, that Mr Bates's contacts in
Blackburn enabled him to obtain drugs more cheaply than it was
possible to do so in Bolton.

In March or April last year, Mr Bates had met Hargreaves and other men
at a pub. He told them he would consider their invitation for him to
work for them. Later, however, he said he would not become involved.

"The consequence of his refusal to do their bidding was that the
decision was made to shoot him - probably as a warning to others that
they intended to preserve their territory and enforce their will,"
said Mr Gee.

Two separate attempts were made on Mr Bates's life. In the first,
shortly after midnight on the day of the fatal shooting, a bullet was
fired through a window at his home. It narrowly missed his head, the
court was told.

Mr Gee said that at lunchtime on Aug 6, the four defendants drove to a
lock-up garage. Seddon asked the owner if he could borrow a crash
helmet and he was given a red and gold one with a full-face visor.

Later that afternoon, a man called at a Bolton salvage firm, Central
Breakers, and bought a yellow Metro for UKP100. The man gave a false
name and address.

Dillon was due to have returned from a friend's house at 4.30pm. When
he failed to arrive, Mr Bates went to collect him. As the two walked
together in the sunshine, they were confronted by a man Mr Bates had
noticed slouched down in the passenger seat of the Metro.

"Bates saw the man lift the front of his jacket and immediately saw he
was carrying a gun, which must have been a revolver," said Mr Gee. "He
drew the gun from beneath his jacket and aimed it at John Bates, who
was holding Dillon's hand.

"The gunman opened fire, and the bullets struck Dillon and John Bates.
The gunman continued firing several shots at John Bates even after
Dillon had been shot and mortally wounded."

The trial continues.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry