Gun death couple 'fled in terror'

The Stirlands fled first to Yorkshire and then to Lincolnshire

A jury in the case of an alleged double murder has been told of the terror the couple felt when they came under an earlier gun attack.

Joan and John Stirland said in police statements that gunmen fired at their home in Nottingham in September 2003.

They were left "terrified" and fled first to Yorkshire and then Trusthorpe, Lincolnshire, where they were gunned down in August 2004.

Eight men deny conspiracy to murder at Birmingham Crown Court.

I was very frightened. I realised shots were being fired at my house Joan Stirland

In statements made to police in the wake of the first attack Joan Stirland, 51, said: "Having bullets fired at the house has left me and John very, very frightened. We now fear for our safety.

"I feel it was only luck that both myself and John were not killed."

The court heard that the gunmen targeted the Stirlands at their rented home just days after Mrs Stirland's son, Michael O'Brien, was arrested and charged with the murder of Marvyn Bradshaw.

Mr Bradshaw was shot dead outside a pub in Nottingham in August 2003.

Mrs Stirland said in her statement that she saw the men calmly approach her home seconds before the first shot was fired.

She said: "I told John about the men outside on the motorbike. He got up and told me to move away from the window.

Beretta pistols

"John shouted at me to get down on the floor. I then hit the floor as John pulled me down. I then heard a loud bang followed by six other bangs.

"I was very frightened. I realised shots were being fired at my house."

The couple, who refused to enter a formal witness protection programme, were shot dead 11 months later by two men who allegedly tracked them to their home and burst in armed with Beretta pistols.

John Russell, 29, of Northcote Way, Nottingham, Michael McNee, 20, of no fixed address, Shane Bird, 38, of Carlton Hill, Nottingham, Kevin Holm, 38, of Cliff Road, Carlton, Nottingham, Andrew McKinnon, 21, of no fixed address, and Lanelle Douglas, 20, of no fixed address, deny the charge of conspiracy to murder, together with a 38-year-old man and a 40-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons.