Anthony Milton was sentenced for the shooting in February this year – it emerged this week he was also burgling houses to steal cars
Anthony Milton was sentenced for the shooting in February this year – it emerged this week he was also burgling houses to steal cars
A teenager part of a two-man team that shot five bullets at a house was in the midst of a burglary spree that saw him break into homes to steal people’s cars. Anthony Milton, now 20, and Reece Martin unleashed the volley of gunshots at a house while a mum and son slept inside.
The two men, who were both teenagers at the time, fired the shots from a Glock self-loading pistol towards the family home on Central Drive in West Derby as part of an ongoing “vendetta” which had been sparked by a vicious stabbing and also saw a pub gutted by fire.
The shots, pumped towards the house at around 8.15am on October 19 last year, followed issues at the Lobster pub in Croxteth, where the landlord had been stabbed and the establishment was burned down. The court appearances of Milton and Martin revealed the pair, who went to the scene on a stolen motorbike, were “directed to do the dirty work” by those “more criminally sophisticated and more savvy…not prepared to dirty their hands”.
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The ECHO can now confirm that when Milton carried out the shooting he was in the midst of a burgling spree that saw him work in partnership with Carl Power – a criminal who has repeatedly appeared before the courts for a litany of offences. The two men were jailed this week at Liverpool Crown Court after they committed a series of burglaries across Sefton, St Helens and Liverpool between October and December 2023.
The pair often gained entry to premises to steal the occupier’s vehicles. Detective Sergeant Alan Williams, of Merseyside Police’s burglary team, said: “Not only were Power and Milton charged with six and 12 offences respectively, but the court was also asked to take into consideration a further 14 offences when sentencing Power and a further 15 for Milton.”
Milton’s co-conspirator Power has been recognised as one of north Liverpool’s most troublesome yobs for his despicable attitudes to others. His past has seen him involved in high speed police chases, being caught carrying weapons and even a 13-hour rooftop stand-off. On a previous burglary spree he even raided a house on Christmas Day.
Shots fired at a family home
Milton and Martin laughed and joked when they appeared in the dock to be sentenced for the shooting. A judge told them it was “only by chance that no one was injured or killed”. Martin’s disdain for the court was evident when he called the judge a “fat nonce” after he was sentenced.
The court heard in February this year the occupant of the house, Joanne Maclean, was woken by the sound of glass smashing. She “jumped out of bed” and called out to her son Michael, who shouted back that his bedroom window had been damaged. She told him to “stay down and not move” before she heard a vehicle driving away at speed.
“Various bullet holes” were left in the walls of the home, with investigations revealing one shot missed the young man’s head by a matter of metres. Enquiries showed the two gunmen had been in communications from 7.23am that day after meeting at a shop and then taking a taxi to an address in West Derby.
Soon after the pair were speeding towards their target on a green and black Kawasaki motorbike, stolen from the Essex area in 2020 and being driven on false plates. After the shooting they continued on to Martin’s sister’s address in Croxteth, where the bike was found in a shed by police officers the next day.
Shaun Maclean, Ms Maclean’s former partner and 21-year-old Michael’s dad, told detectives he believed that a man called Lewis Redcliffe was “behind the shooting, following issues with his son” Adam Maclean – the owner of the Lobster pub in Croxteth. Another man, Benjamin Fitzsimmons, had stabbed the landlord of this premises in June 2023, after which threats were made that the establishment would be “burned down” if he was jailed over the attack.
The 45-year-old assailant, of Altcross Road in Croxteth, was subsequently sentenced to 11 years on October 13. Three days later, at around 6am on October 16, the pub “burned down” following a fire. But Mr Maclean continued to receive further threats that his house would be shot at and that he himself would be shot. The court heard that Redcliffe is currently wanted by the police.
Milton’s defence counsel told the court: “Mr Milton is clearly frightened of reprisals should he speak. He is bound to say that he regrets what he did. Mr Milton did not put much thought into what he was asked to do. He did not know exactly who would be in the home. He can say, with the benefit of hindsight, that he wishes he had not done it. He wishes me to say that he is sorry for what he did.”
Milton and Martin admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. Judge Denis Watson KC told them: “You chose to be part of a vendetta against someone who chose to stand up for their employee, whose faced had been slashed. You equipped yourself with a firearm and ammunition and set out for the Macleans’ home. In broad daylight, you fired five shots into the occupants’ house. It is by chance that no one was injured or killed.”
Both men received 12 years behind bars plus an additional five years on licence, as well as being handed restraining orders banning them from contacting the Macleans indefinitely. Milton will serve his burglary sentence concurrently to the firearms offences.
