'This violence has to stop' victim's family pleads as Walsall feud leaves two young men dead and 10 serving life sentences
The family of Connor Brookes has pleaded for the end of tit-for-tat street violence which has left two young men dead, others with life-changing injuries and ten languishing in prison on life sentences.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Before Byron Sellick, aged 20, Jake Sanbrook, aged 23, and Julian Falconer, also 20, were given life sentences at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday (May 30) a statement from Mr Brookes' family was read to the court.
The family were left "devastated" by the fatal drive-by shooting of Mr Brookes, who was only 20 himself, in Well Lane, Blakenall, on July 8 last year.
At the time his family was still reeling after Mr Brookes' younger brother Patrick, then just 18, was jailed for life in May alongside six other teenagers for the murder of Bailey Atkinson in Walsall town centre.
This week the Brookes family said in their statement: "This violence has to stop now. It has ruined too many lives. It cannot go on.
"We will never get over losing Connor. He was such a lovely young man. He did not have a bad bone in his body. He was really loving and kind as a person.
"And he had nothing to do with anything with gangs or anything like that.
"As a family we have had to read devastating lies about him, when we have been at our most vulnerable. We cannot forgive those who have lied."
During his murderers' five-week trial earlier this year, Connor Brookes was repeatedly described as being a totally innocent victim who had not taken part in any preceding incidents between his brother's group of friends and Bailey Atkinson's Mossley Estate Gang.
Rather than being involved with crime, Mr Brookes was described as a young man trying to find his way in the world.
He doted on his dog; everywhere he went, his beloved pet was at his side. The care and love he displayed towards his dog revealed a loving side which his friends and family spoke about after he was killed.
School friend Gemma Edwards. who found him slumped at the driving seat of the van minutes after he had been shot, told the court: "I knew Connor all his life. I knew him from school. He was not part of any gang. He was just a lovely guy. He loved his dogs, and never went anywhere without them.
