Mother and seven-year-old son shot on doorstep in Salford: Eighteen arrested in raids as police target gangs

More than 200 officers searched 22 houses in the Eccles and Pendleton areas of the city as part of the police operation

Greater Manchester police headquarters (Getty Images)

Eighteen people have been arrested in a crackdown on criminal gangs in Salford, where a woman and her son were shot and wounded on their doorstep in the latest of a spate of shootings.

More than 200 officers searched 22 houses in the Eccles and Pendleton areas of the city as part of the police operation.

Fifteen men and three women were arrested on suspicion of supplying class A drugs. Officers uncovered a cannabis farm and seized cocaine and cannabis, cash and a stolen motorbike.

The raids were planned before a woman, named locally as Jayne Hickey, 29, and her seven-year-old son were shot in the legs after being confronted by two men at their home in Winton, Salford, late on 12 October.

Detectives believe the shooting could be linked to the killing of Paul Massey, a security boss nicknamed “Mr Big”, who was gunned down on the driveway of his Salford home in July.

Police said that a bullet removed from the boy’s leg will be forensically examined. Rebekah Sutcliffe, Assistant Chief Constable at Greater Manchester Police, said: “We are making progress in the investigation and we hope the bullets will give us a clue as to the identity of the offender.

“Despite our pleas yesterday for the community to tell us what they know, we are still being met with a wall of silence.”

She urged the public: “I understand people are reluctant to talk to police, but if you know who is behind these horrific shootings, your information could help to stop further atrocities in your community.

“Be brave, break your silence, and help us to catch the gunmen and stop the shootings.”

Rival gangs in the central and Swinton areas of Salford have been engaged in a tit-for-tat gun feud, while a second feud has also broken out, unconnected with the attack, in Little Hulton on the city’s outskirts.

Salford has been the scene of 21 shootings in the past 18 months, and Greater Manchester’s Deputy Chief Constable, Ian Hopkins, warned that “enough is enough”.

Police said the raids were part of an intelligence-led operation by the force, which it has been conducting over a number of months against organised crime, and were not a direct response to the shootings.

Superintendent Mark Kenny, of the Salford division, said after the raids: “These warrants are a result of a sustained and in-depth operation into the supply of class A drugs not just in Salford, but in Greater Manchester as a whole.

“They have utilised some excellent work by many officers in the gathering of intelligence and information, which has allowed us to seize a significant amount of drugs, which would soon have been poisoning our streets.”