The tougher sentence handed down to a teenager involved in drug-dealing and gang conflict had been pushed for by the police.
Javarni Cato, 17, of Kingstanding, Birmingham, was linked to a series of gun crime incidents in Dalton and Deighton in which a man was shot.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life on 28 February and was sentenced to five years and four months in a young offender institution. Yesterday a judge increased that to nine years.
Det Chief Inspector Jaz Khan, of the Force Firearms Prevent Team, who led the investigation, said: “I am glad that the judge has increased the sentence as we didn’t feel that the original term truly reflected the seriousness of the crime.
“We worked closely with the review unit in London to successfully appeal this case. This nine year sentence demonstrates to the communities of Kirklees how seriously we take firearms offences and that we will bring offenders to justice.
“It should be a warning to those who carry weapons with the intent to cause fear, that we will do everything within our power to detect those responsible and bring them to justice.”
On 22 July, 2017, on Dalton Fold Road, police received a call that shots had been fired from a car at two young girls who ran into a nearby garden.
The second incident happened five days later on 27 July when a taxi driver picked up four men from a house in Dalton and drove them to Holays. The men got out of the car and a vehicle passed the taxi travelling in the opposite direction.
Shots were fired towards the taxi and resulted in serious injuries to the taxi driver as the pellets were lodged in his back.
The final incident happened on the same day after police received reports of a firearms discharge on New House Crescent in Deighton.
Three victims were sat in a black VW Golf when they were approached by a group of men. As they drove off, shots were fired at the car.
Cato was charged in connection to all three firearms discharges in Holays, New House Crescent and Dalton Fold Road.
The Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC, also thought his sentence should have been much tougher and referred the case to London’s Appeal Court.
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A panel of three senior judges, led by Lord Justice McCombe, agreed with him – and increased Cato’s sentence to nine years.
The Attorney General, the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in England and Wales, said: “I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has agreed with me that this sentence was too low.
“Gang-related crimes are serious offences, especially when firearms are involved, and a longer sentence more accurately reflects the damage that Cato’s actions have had on individuals and the wider community.”
Anyone with information about the illegal possession or storage of any firearm should contact the police on the non-emergency number 101 or information can be passed to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Despite his youth, Cato had nine previous convictions, for 17 crimes, including common assault and robbery.
A probation officer’s report described him as ‘very immature’ and said he had shown ‘some remorse.’
But Bill Emlyn Jones, for the Attorney General, argued that Cato had got off far too lightly.
There was more than one firearm involved and the weapons were discharged on a total of three separate occasions, he said.
