Three men have been found guilty of attempted murder after two children were shot in Wolverhampton.

The youngsters were at a playground in Bushbury when they were hit by stray bullets fired from a stolen Ford Focus towards a stolen Mini Cooper in what’s believed to have been a violent feud between gangs.

A girl aged 11 who was playing in the Shelley Road park was hit in the leg, while a boy aged 15 on a bike in the neighbouring car park was hit just below the knee.

The Focus sped away, chased by the stolen Mini Cooper.

One of the chasers fired a shot at the Focus, blowing out its rear windscreen, but the three men managed to escape.

A major investigation, focusing on forensic examination of bullets, CCTV, mobile phone and witness evidence, established that Kian Durnin, aged 22, had been driving the car, with Tireq McIntosh, 23, in the front passenger seat. Both men had fired guns, while Martinho De Sousa, aged 24, was a back-seat passenger. In interview, Durnin and McIntosh denied any involvement, while De Sousa made no comment.

After a trial at Birmingham Crown Court all three were found guilty of attempted murder and aggravated vehicle taking. McIntosh, of Valley Road, De Sousa, of Deansfield Road, and Durnin, of Milton Road, will be sentenced on 20 December. Det Insp Francis Nock, from the Major Crime Team, said:

“At least six shots were fired and it’s by sheer luck that these two children weren’t more seriously injured or killed.

“Thankfully, they have both made recoveries from their physical wounds. But this has left their families shattered.

“We may never know who the intended targets were, or why the shooting happened, but we believe it involved tensions between gangs in the Wolverhampton area, and may be connected to illegal drugs.

“Our recently created Major Crime Team had the resources and expertise to put a huge amount of officers into this investigation, reviewing more than 2,000 hours of CCTV and exploring countless lines of enquiry.

“This was a cowardly attack by men who had no hesitation in firing deadly guns next to a children’s playground.”

While the weapons used in this attack have not been found, police have had significant success in taking guns off the streets of the West Midlands, with 134 seizures so far this calendar year (up from 121 in all of 2022) and 40 fewer shootings compared to last year.

They have also made a number of key arrests of in recent weeks, taking 20 firearms off the street during this month alone.