Two found guilty of assisting an offender in connection with 2018 shooting in Blackwater

Two people accused of assisting an offender following the shooting of a teenager in Blackwater have been found guilty following a re-trial at Winchester Crown Court.

Glen Johnson, 43, of no fixed abode and Samantha Binfield, 52, of Hearsey Gardens, Blackwater, had both denied one offence of assisting an offender.

At an earlier trial which concluded in October 2019, the jury had been unable to reach verdicts in the case of Johnson and Binfield.

However, a third defendant, who was 16 at the time of the shooting but now 18, was cleared of attempted murder but found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

He was subsequently sentenced to eight years and ten weeks in youth custody.

The case related to the shooting of a 17 year old boy from Yateley at a garage block in Hearsey Gardens, Blackwater, on February 10, 2018.

The victim, now aged 19, was left permanently paralysed due to his injuries.

The prosecution told the court that following the shooting, both Johnson and Binfield attempted to hide the suspect from the police.

Binfield came to the scene of the shooting and drove the teenager to her house to clean up.

It was alleged that later that day, Johnson drove the suspect to a location in Chertsey where he kept a boat and allowed him to change clothes and stay overnight before he took the suspect to hand himself in at Basingstoke Police Investigation Centre. Both were arrested on arrival at Basingstoke.

After being summonsed to court, Johnson subsequently failed to appear and was later arrested on a warrant in Pattaya, Thailand, in August 2019. He was then deported back to the UK.

Both will be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on April 24.