South Shields shotgun convict gets sentence increased for heroine and cocaine bust

A convict serving 15 years after a gunman blasted a shotgun at a front door has been given extra time behind bars for drug dealing.

Aaron Giles was one of two men who took an unknown armed attacker to a rival's home in South Shields, South Tyneside, after a series of "tit for tat incidents".

The gunman fired two shots at the front door of the house, in Brownlow Road, while the occupants were at home in September 2022 but fortunately nobody was hurt.

In May last year Giles, 30, of Richardson Avenue, South Shields, was locked up after being convicted of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and told anyone in the way of the shot would have been in "mortal danger".

Giles was back at Newcastle Crown Court today where he was given a further two years, to be served after the 15-year term.

Prosecutor Nadim Bashir told the court it was in December 2019, before the firearms offence, that police found heroin and cocaine, worth up to £28,000, at Giles' home, where he was not actually living at the time.

The officers also discovered an illegal PAVA spray at the address, along with documentation and other items containing his name.

Giles admitted possessing cocaine and heroin with intent and having prohibited weapon.

Sam Faulks, defending, said the drugs offences and the later firearm conviction were "bedfellows", were "all linked to the same problem" and that other people were involved in the dealing and warehousing of the cocaine and heroin.

Mr Faulks said since Giles started serving the long sentence he has completed several courses, gained a trusted job in prison and has good references to the hard work he has done to better himself.

Mr Faulks urged the judge not to "extinguish hope" by adding to the sentence Giles is already serving.

But Mr Recorder Simon Goldberg said the offences were separate and committed on different occasions so his overall jail term had to be increased.