Bradford house was blasted with semi-automatic pistol

Daniel Nowek donned a mask and gloves when he fired four shots at a house in Bierley in the early hours of October 20, 2020, before fleeing by car to London where he was arrested eight days later.

A search of the house in Keighley in which the 31-year-old had been living recovered a Russian-made 9mm Makarov semi-automatic pistol as well as a Turkish-made 4mm EKOL miniature revolver.

Sentencing him at Bradford Crown Court, Recorder Andrew Dallas said he was satisfied by circumstantial evidence that Nowek was associated with organised criminals involved in the drugs trade.

He added: “For some reason not entirely clear you chose to target a house in Bradford, possibly to do with other incidents of a similar nature [connected to] organised crime. Possibly you were intending to frighten somebody who wasn’t in the house.

“You chose to target that house for whatever reason, and clearly planned it.”

Damage to the house window (Image: Newsquest)

Nowek appeared via video link from Newton Lodge Medium Secure Unit in Wakefield, and spoke via an interpreter.

Prosecutor Matthew Bean told the court that just over two weeks before the shooting police found a cannabis farm in the basement of a rented property in Neville Street, Keighley.

They were alerted by members of the owner’s family who saw Nowek and another man carrying quantities of cannabis plants from the house to a Mercedes car.

Believing the address to be linked to Polish nationals, police went to a house on the same street. The semi-automatic handgun was later found at this address.

Mr Bean said: “The Neville Street cannabis grow and the defendant’s links to cannabis production are linked to the shooting incident.”

The shooting took place at around 4am on October 20, 2020, when a woman in the house in Bierley was awakened by a noise. 

When she went downstairs she saw the kitchen window had been damaged by, she believed, a brick. She called her husband and rang 999.

The presence of spent cartridges, bullets, and bullet fragments showed police that a gun had been discharged with at least four shots fired at the house.

Forensics at the scene (Image: Newsquest)

Three rounds had hit the kitchen window, surrounding brickwork, and a wooden porch but one had passed through the window and across the kitchen before embedding itself in the wall.

Forensic evidence recovered at the scene established that Nowek had fired the gun, and CCTV footage showed his Mercedes driving into Bradford and arriving at the house at 3.45am.

Mr Bean said: “He is wearing a mask. He stands outside the property and fires repeatedly at the address before running away.”

The court heard that on the night after the shooting, Nowek drove to London where he was later arrested after being found trying to break into the Mercedes, claiming he had lost his keys.

A check with West Yorkshire Police showed Nowek was linked to the Bierley shooting. The Mercedes was seized and inside it was found a rucksack containing clothing, including a mask, that Nowek had worn for the shooting. Gunshot residue linked him to the discharge of the pistol.

When police searched the address at Neville Street they found the Makarov semi-automatic and the EKOL revolver, both being prohibited weapons. Tests performed on the Makarov “conclusively determined” that it had been used in the Bierley shooting. Nowek’s DNA was also found on the revolver’s hammer, grips, and trigger.

A search of a London flat where Nowek had briefly stayed revealed more than 200 ecstasy tablets.

When interviewed by police Nowek denied any knowledge of the shooting and said he had been abroad at the time. He later pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possession of a prohibited firearm, and possession of a Class A drug.

Mitigating, John Batchelor said Nowek was suffering from a mental disorder, which the court heard was paranoid schizophrenia, though as it had manifested itself after the shooting incident he had been found fit to plea.

He added: “He understands the gravity of the offence and his position and doesn’t wish me to mitigate in relation to detail or to his involvement.”

Describing the case as “unusual”, Recorder Dallas ordered Nowek to be detained in Newton Lodge for seven years with a move to prison if his mental disorder improved.

He said Nowek’s offending was too serious for anything other than a custodial sentence, and that the public would expect the Home Office to deport him immediately after the completion of his hybrid sentence.

He also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the pistols and the ecstasy tablets.