Lytham shooter's appeal fails

A Lytham dad who blasted an Accrington man in a botched shotgun execution has failed in a challenge to his 25-year jail term.
Police at the scene of the shooting in AccringtonPolice at the scene of the shooting in Accrington
Police at the scene of the shooting in Accrington

Donovan Anthony Wallace, 28, lured Mark Walsh from his home and shot at him in an alleyway behind his house last January.

The victim, 35, was sprayed with pellets and, although he miraculously survived, was left with permanent hearing loss.

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Wallace, of Lodge Lane, Lytham, denied he was involved, but was convicted of conspiracy to murder at Preston Crown Court and jailed last August.

Yesterday, three senior judges in London rejected his challenge to the length of his punishment, saying he had come close to getting a life sentence.

Mr Justice Gilbart told the court the attempted murder was sparked by animosity between Mr Walsh and an associate of Wallace’s.

Wallace enlisted the help of a young accomplice and went to the victim’s Maudsley Street home on January 12 last year. Mr Walsh was lured out by banging on his back door and shot by Wallace, who was waiting in the alley wearing a ski-mask.

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“While Mr Walsh survived the attack, he has suffered permanent scarring on his head and permanent hearing loss,” the judge said. “It’s clear the ordeal was terrifying for him.”

Wallace claimed his 25-year term was too tough. There had been no murder, he said, and his sentence was ‘far too long’.

But Mr Justice Gilbart, sitting with Lord Justice Davis and Judge Michael Stokes QC, said Wallace had come close to killing his victim.

Had he done so, he would have been serving a life term, said the judge. “We consider there is no merit in this application,” he added, refusing Wallace’s appeal bid.

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