A convicted murderer faces a life sentence after a much loved dad was shot dead when gang warfare exploded on the streets. Wade Cox, 32, blasted Luke Graham at point blank range in broad daylight, as children played nearby.
Mr Graham, 31, known as 'Tank', was targeted after his drug dealing stepped on the toes of an organised crime gang operating in Tameside. Cox was ordered to serve at least 36 years in jail after being convicted of murder in 2019.
Now a second man has been convicted of Mr Graham's murder after he was dragged back to the UK to face justice. Callum Halpin, 28, was found guilty under joint enterprise laws after he shut the door of the van Mr Graham was sat in when he was shot, to prevent him from escaping.
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Halpin also took the gun off Cox after the murder and helped arrange an Audi which the pair had arrived in to be burnt out. After the killing, on June 13, 2018, Halpin fled the country and became one of the UK's most wanted men, spending almost four years on the run.
He was eventually caught in May last year in Portugal at an address near Vilamoura in the Algarve. Vilamoura has been described online as a luxury coastal resort with 'world-class hotels', 'trendy beach clubs', and 'fine restaurants'. Now following a trial at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, Halpin was convicted of murder after he 'encouraged and assisted' the killing.
He is due to be sentenced later today (Friday, February 3). The trial heard the murder was part of a drugs turf war. "It may well be the activities of Luke Graham and Anton Verigotta as rival drug dealers to Wade Cox and his associates provides some explanation for the extreme hostility that appears to lay behind this shooting," prosecutor Richard Pratt KC said.
Mr Graham and his associate, Mr Verigotta, had both been in Ashton-under-Lyne on the afternoon of June 13. Mr Verigotta had been to a 'crack house' on Birch Street, several times that day to supply drugs.
On his last visit, at around 4:40pm, Mr Graham was with him. Soon after they left, one of the occupants of the house said three 'boys' wearing balaclavas entered. One said of Mr Verigotta 'get him back here now'.
As the man inside the house 'did as he was told' and made the call, one of the three men said: ''No funny business or I'll put you one in your leg, just make the phone call." CCTV footage showed a silver Audi containing Cox, a second man, and Mr Halpin, arriving on Birch Street at 4:45pm with all three men going into the property, Mr Pratt said.
Minutes later, a van being driven by Mr Verigotta with Mr Graham in the passenger seat arrived. Cox emerged from the house and fired his gun through the van's passenger window, hitting Mr Graham to the shoulder. The gunshot proved fatal.
Cox also fired shots at Mr Verigotta, who was blasted in the leg as he 'ran for his life'. After Halpin emerged from the house, Halpin stopped Mr Graham from escaping from the van.
"The evidence would seem to suggest Luke Graham is still alive at this moment and he's attempting to get out with Callum Halpin, we say, shutting the door to prevent him," Mr Pratt said. Halpin took the gun off Cox when they went back in the Audi and fled the scene.
Mr Graham was hit with one bullet in the shoulder, causing fatal injuries from which he later died in hospital. Mr Verigotta 'lived to tell the tale'. After the killing, Halpin went to the Cornershop pub in Beswick before being driven to the Ultimate Fitness Gym in Stalybridge.
Halpin, of Beede Street, Openshaw, denied murder and wounding with intent but was found guilty. At trial, he claimed he'd shut the door because he thought Mr Graham 'was going to attack him'.
Mr Graham's family paid tribute to him after he was shot dead. They said: "Luke was a loving son, dad and brother, who was always there for his family and friends.
"He was the type of person who would go out of his way to help others and now we are broken as a family. We can’t believe that he’s gone and that he has been taken from us in such a horrific and cowardly act of violence.
"Losing Luke has devastated me as a father, and I wouldn’t want any other parent or family to go through the hell that I am living in at the moment."
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