Rise and fall of crime boss, 16, who orchestrated three shootings and firebombed mum

dailystar.co.uk:

crime to the city.The now 17-year-old was the "brainchild" behind a firebomb attack on the home of a mum and her three children were inside, the Liverpool Echo reported.O'Brien sought help from a youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and enlisted Sian Kanu, then 19, and Mohammed Mohammed, then 19, to carry out the attack.

They poured petrol through the letterbox and set the property ablaze as the mum and her children ran for their lives.Liverpool Crown Court heard the attacks targeted members and associates of two families — the Franchettis and the Rosarios.Two other attacks saw a stray bullet fired from an Audi at a BMW fly through the front door on an "entirely innocent" family's home and a gunman on a bike pepper a family's living room with bullets.

O'Brien recruited Michael McClean, then 16, and Aaron Donohoe, then 19, as his "lieutenants" who were given "managerial responsibility" over his drug trade."Trusted" Daniel Lawler, 19, joined O'Brien in carrying out two of the shootings, which all involved the same Glock semi-automatic gun that was never recovered by police.Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, said he had no doubt they were "the manifestation of a feud" between O'Brien's gang and others with "whom they had a real or perceived grievance, the nature of which has not emerged".He said: "Unhappily, the lives of wholly innocent people, including young children, were put at risk by the callous and cowardly actions of all those involved."Ahead of a trial, O'Brien admitted lesser offences of conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and conspiring to commit arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.