A man suspected to be a leading figure in the notorious Crocky Crew gang was gunned down inside a busy pub sparking a string of revenge attacks.
Danny McDonald, 20, was drinking with friends inside the crowded pub on January 1 2004 when a man, with his hood pulled up and a ski mask covering his face, calmly walked in and fired four shots at point blank range with a powerful handgun. Punters inside the busy pub ran for cover while Mr McDonald staggered towards the door before collapsing on the floor.
The attack happened just before 5pm on New Year's Day, and resulted in Mr McDonald's friend, John-Paul Cummins, 19, undergoing emergency surgery at what was then known as Fazakerley Hospital. The pair had been friends since they were in the same class at Our Lady's & St Swithin R C Primary School.
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Mr Cummins' parents, Helen and Chris, both from Croxteth, visited him after his operation and told the Daily Post: "He was having a drink with Danny and he heard a bang. He turned around and was shot in the back. I'm just in shock.
"He kept asking me 'how's Danny, how's Danny?' I just hate whoever did this. They have to be caught." His dad added: "I gave him the money to go out tonight – I am really sorry I gave him anything. We are all just devastated and shocked. I just wish I knew why this happened."
After the brutal attack, the masked gunman fled from the pub. Merseyside Police detectives held the 60 witnesses inside the building and took statements. Shortly after 6.15pm, a young woman ran from the main entrance of the pub and was chased by two police officers.
She was caught and forced back inside. Forensic teams then started a finger-tip search of the bar and front car park. A tent was erected around the front entrance of the pub where Mr McDonald's body lay.
Pub manager Lynn Gray told the Daily Post at the time: "I was upstairs eating my tea and I heard the bangs of the gunshots, I don't know how many. I wasn't in the main part of the pub so I didn't see what happened, it's very upsetting, we're just trying to find out what happened."
At the time, it was widely reported the 20-year-old's murder was the result of a number of petty disputes between rival north Liverpool gangs. This very public gangland execution marked a terrifying raising of the stakes. The murder prompted a number of revenge attacks.
Less than 24 hours after he was murdered, shots were fired at a house in Croxteth in what was believed to have been a retaliation. As violence escalated between the Crocky Crew and the Strand Gang, it wasn't the first time Mr McDonald was believed to have been targeted.
It was thought he was the intended target of a nail bomb which was thrown into the Dickie Lewis pub on Walton Road the previous September. The bomb was filled with screws and nails – but the fuse burnt out and didn't explode.
The gang war between the two feuding sides hit national headlines in 2007 following the senseless murder of innocent schoolboy Rhys Jones, who was caught in the crossfire when Crocky Crew thug Sean Mercer targeted three rival gangsters with a WWI Smith and Wesson revolver. None of his intended targets were hit, but 11-year-old Rhys was killed while returning home from football practice.
The previous year, Liam 'Smigger' Smith – a prominent member of the Strand Gang, who were also called themselves Nogga Dogs – was shot dead outside HMP Altcourse after visiting a friend. Smith was shot in the head with a sawn-off shotgun at point blank range when 20 members of the Crocky Crew sprung out from behind some bushes.
Three teenagers were convicted of his murder and jailed. Six years later, fellow Strand Gang member Joseph Thompson was gunned down after a gunman showered him and a friend with bullets while they walked in the street. Shortly after Thompson's death, the ECHO revealed he was a prime suspect in the unsolved murder of Mr McDonald.
Despite intense investigations, Thompson was released without charge. Whether Thompson pulled the trigger or not, the death of Mr McDonald sparked the bloody feud between the two gangs, which at times transformed L11 into a war zone.
To this day, no one has been charged in relation to both men's murders – and the cases remain on Merseyside Police's list of unsolved murders in the region.
Anyone with information about the murder of Danny McDonald or Joseph Thompson can contact Merseyside Police via Twitter (@MerPolCC), or by calling the force on 101. You can also contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or online here.
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