POLICE have hailed the jailing of a ‘very dangerous individual’ after he went on the run to Portugal after a dad was shot dead in a street in front of playing children.
Callum Halpin fled the country after drug dealer Wade ‘Tank’ Graham was gunned down, followed by the attempted murder of Anton Verigotta, on Birch Street.
Shocking CCTV footage showed children playing just yards from the scene in June 2018 as a turf war erupted.
Five men had previously been brought to justice in July 2019 as part of Operation Yale, including Wade Cox, who was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years, and Jordan Atkinson, who was jailed for eight years.
Halpin featured in the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) list of 12 of the UK’s most wanted fugitives believed to be hiding in Spain in January 2022.
He was eventually tracked to Portugal, arrested last May, then returned to the UK to face sentence.
He was jailed at Manchester’ Minshull Street Crown Court for 30 years for the murder. He will serve a seven-year sentence concurrently for wounding with intent, charges he denied.
The court was told 31-year-old Mr Graham, who had served spells in prison and was said to be turning his life around, had become involved in cannabis dealing.
Cox and 28-year-old Halpin, of the Openshaw area of Manchester, arranged the hit to ‘send a chilling message’ to their rivals.
Detective Inspector Lee Barrow, from Greater Manchester Police’s City of Manchester CID, oversaw the original investigation in 2019.
He said: “Halpin is a very dangerous individual who has finally been brought to justice.
“The murder was carried out on a residential street with children having to run to cover.
“Halpin had been on the run since Luke was fatally shot on that tragic day and it has been our intention ever since to ensure all those suspected of being responsible for his death are caught and prosecuted.
“I want to thank partners from the National Crime Agency for their work in arresting Halpin and I know this will send a strong message that we are totally committed to working with law enforcement agencies across the world to ensure those wanted are caught wherever they try to hide, and ultimately face the serious charges they are accused of.”
CCTV footage showed a silver Audi containing the pair and another man arriving on Birch Street at with all three men going into the property.
Minutes later, a van with Mr Graham in the passenger seat arrived. Cox emerged from the house and fired the fatal shot through the van’s passenger window. Halpin stopped Mr Graham escaping from the van.
The trial was told that following the shooting, Halpin was at the Cornershop pub in Beswick before being driven to the Ultimate Fitness Gym in Stalybridge.
Leon Kazakos KC, defending Halpin, urged the judge give his client ‘some hope of release at some point’, telling the court: “It’s plain from the jury’s verdict he became involved in somebody else’s criminality.”
However. the judge, Mrs Justice Bobbie Cheema- Grubb, told Halpin: “You are a confident, intelligent man. In 2018 you had somewhere to live, a girlfriend and you had some skills and training but you were growing cannabis with others involved in that world.
“That was your choice.
“You enjoyed going to the gym to build yourself up and project that kind of image. I reject the argument that you were gullible.”