Salford shooting: Suspect in gangland attack on mother and son claims he was at home watching Crimewatch

Carne Thomasson denies he was a member of Salford's A-Team

The Salford gangland shooting trial is taking place at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square (PA Archive/PA Images)

A suspect in the shooting of a mother and seven-year-old son during a bungled gangland hit has claimed he was at home watching BBC’s Crimewatch when the pair were attacked.

Carne Thomasson, 28, told a jury at Manchester Crown Court he had nothing to do with the attack, which left Jayne and Christian Hickey with serious leg injuries in 2015.

He denied he was the man who called at the family’s home in Winton, Salford, and asked for Mrs Hickey’s husband Chris Hickey seconds before an accomplice appeared and opened fire.

It is claimed the shooting was carried out by the A-Team gang in revenge for the “execution” of Paul Massey, a mentor of A-Team boss Stephen Britton.

Mr Hickey was friends with the leader of a rival faction, Michael Carroll, who later fled to Marbella, Spain, to escape the “war” on Salford’s streets.

But while Mr Thomasson, a father-of-one, admitted being a dealer in “substantial quantities of cannabis”, he insisted he was not a member of the A-Team.

He told the jury he was aware of the gang name because “the police stirred it up in the media” and described photos of alleged members making the letter A with their fingers as “pretty embarrassing”.

The prosecution claim Mr Thomasson and his uncle John Thomasson drove to the gang’s alleged armourer Christopher Hall to pick up a gun before the shooting.

He told the court he was watching football and Crimewatch on TV that night.

Four days after the attack, Carne Thomasson travelled to Scotland for nearly two weeks.

He told the jury the trip was to organise a drug deal and said he had ​nothing to do with getting rid of an Audi car involved in the attack.

Mr Thomasson was arrested in February 2016 with with Mr Britton and others with a loaded handgun in Marbella, but said he had no idea Carroll was living in Spain at that time. He said he went abroad for a fresh start.

Simon Czoka, defending, asked him: “Mr Thomasson, did you have anything to do with the shooting of Jayne Hickey and her son?”

“No,” he replied.

Carne Thomasson, Hall, Aldaire Warmington and John Thomasson, 49, all from Salford, deny conspiracy to murder and perverting the course of justice.

James Coward, 22, Dominic Walton, 26, and Lincoln Warmington, 32, deny perverting the course of justice in relation to the disposal of the Audi car allegedly used in the Hickey shooting.

The gun used to shoot the Hickeys had also been used six months earlier to shoot Jamie Rothwell, another member of Carroll’s gang, at a car wash near Wigan.

Jacob Harrison 26, has admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm to Mr Rothwell on March 30 2015.

John Kent, the eighth defendant on trial, denies the same charge as Harrison and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice for the Rothwell shooting.

The trial continues.

Press Association