IN the dead of night, a shattering series of bangs reverberated around a Greater Manchester street.
Mistaking it for fireworks, startled residents peered out of their window. When they realised it was gunfire, some panicked - others simply went back to bed.
The shocking 1am attack on a home in Prince Edward Avenue, in the Clarksfield area of Oldham, was live-streamed on Snapchat last week, with footage appearing to show a man firing at least six shots through a window.
Defiant locals insist the terrifying incident was out of character for the street, but after a spate of gun-related crimes in Oldham, they fear the area’s culture of drugs and gang violence is increasingly spiralling out of control.
It comes amid growing concern about firearms offences in the UK, which have risen nine per cent nationally year-on-year and come under scrutiny following the horrific death of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool in August 2022.
Two New York cops stabbed during celebrations in Times Square
Nadeeem Iqbal, a 45-year-old father-of-four and councillor for the ward, lives on Prince Edward Avenue and went out to check on the family after the attack.
He said: “It was a shocking moment. We came straight out of the house once we realised there had been gunshots and people were screaming and running about.
“We checked on the family and they were okay, luckily they didn’t answer the door.
“The only saving grace from this is that it was a targeted and isolated incident. This is not normal for this street.
“But the police did their job and responded quickly. There were families and children out on the street, with a lot of people upset and scared.
“Oldham has seen a few incidents of gun crime in recent weeks and this needs to be clamped down.
“We do not know what is behind this but it is a worry when guns are in your community, one hundred per cent.”
Two men and a woman, all in their 30s, were later arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear. No injuries were reported.
A 36-year-old man has been charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and affray.
Another man and a woman, who are both in their 30s, have been bailed after being arrested in connection with the incident.
At least nine killed after New Year's Day stampede at shopping centre
A 59-year-old man who lives on the street told us: “I heard a bang at around 1.15am and thought it was fireworks but soon realised it was gunshots. I didn’t get up, I just went back to sleep. I wasn’t scared at all. I don’t scare that easily.
But one mother, who did not want to be named for fear of repercussions, has a different view.
She said: “I am absolutely distraught, this is not what you expect on your own doorstep.
“It is so scary to think people have come into our street carrying weapons.
“People don’t seem to realise what’s happening here - that innocent people can get caught up in gun crime. Just look at the case in Liverpool where a nine-year-old girl was shot dead in her own home.”
Crime hotspot
Last year Oldham was highlighted as one of the UK's crime hotspots in a landmark report advising the Government on its levelling-up strategy.
A 2022 report estimated there were 176 organised crime groups (OCGs) operating across Greater Manchester, with almost a quarter of the gangs identified said to have access to guns. Drugs are said to remain the 'primary crime type' for the vast majority of the gangs.
Of the 176, 55 active organised crime groups are said to be 'impacting the city of Manchester' - accounting for 31 per cent of all known OCGs in the county.
Oldham and Salford have the second highest number of organised crime groups, with 19 and 18 respectively.
The sprawling reach of these criminal networks was illustrated in a crackdown late last year, which saw a Manchester gang jailed over a multi-million pound drugs ring supplying the entire North West.
A police investigation revealed how Oldham man James Mulligan headed up a criminal empire dealing Class A drugs including heroin, assisted by Sheila Mason - a woman he called ‘grandma’.
Mason, who pleaded guilty to assisting an OCG and received a community order, owned a ‘stash house’ in Droylsden.
Inside, cops found ammunition and drugs paraphernalia containing residues of substances including cocaine and levamisole – a drug used to treat parasites in animal.
Greater Manchester Police found another property had been used entirely as a Breaking Bad-style drug lab by the gang “capable of producing hundreds of kilos of amphetamine a month”. In the living room, they seized PPE clothing including full hazmat suits and protective gloves.
The scary thing is that people think this life is normal
Frank Greenwood
Mulligan was jailed for 11 years and seven months. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs and conspiracy to possess a firearm, but was found not guilty of conspiracy to possess ammunition.
Detective Inspector Justin Bryant from GMP Serious Organised Crime Group said: “This was a really complex investigation which started with eight suspects, but soon developed into tracking thirteen members of an OCG, unveiling an extensive criminal network responsible for supplying large quantities of drugs and weapons, two trades that fuel intimidation and exploitation in Manchester and across the UK.
“This gang thought they were untouchable, they only cared about lining their pockets. The scale of drugs they were involved in will have undoubtedly contributed to serious violence and deprivation in our communities.”
In plain sight
For residents living off Prince Edward Avenue, Oldham’s drug trade hides in plain sight.
Maureen Hughes, 81, said: “There is a problem with drugs on this estate. They had to put barriers at the croft at the end of my road because cars would drive on there and do their dodgy deals.
“Now I see a fella who sits on the bench in the cemetery and people come up to him. It’s the way of life now.”
In Coldhurst, another area known for being one of the most poverty-stricken in the town, such disorder is a way of life.
Mum-of-two Chelsea Gardner, 33, said: “I grew up with kids riding around on quad bikes and crossers so that all seems okay to me.
“Yes it is chaotic and noisy around here but that’s how I like it. I lay in bed at night and you can hear arguing and carrying on but I’m used to it.
Frank Greenwood, 73, said: “I don’t find it to be particularly scary here, but the scary thing is that people think this life is normal.
“All day there are dealers coming along on motorbikes and you see them pull up and do a deal with somebody and drive off and this is what kids are seeing, that or people smoking it walking along the street.
“It used to be hidden behind closed doors because they’d be worried about the police. But not anymore.
“Kids of today don’t know that life shouldn’t be like this.”
Oldham has seen a few incidents of gun crime in recent weeks and this needs to be clamped down
Nadeeem Iqbal
He adds: “Oldham is a dump. It’s a dumping ground for the lost and found and it seems to be the capital of the HMOs (Homes of Multiple Occupancy), which bring along their own problems.
“The successive councils in this town have stripped away everything over the years. In the 70s it was known as the town in the country and it was beautiful."
Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw’s home town is made up of a large Bangladeshi and Pakistani community who first came to the UK in the 1960s to work in the thriving textile industry in the town – at one time boasting the biggest cotton production in the world.
But the demise of that proud history of industry – the last textile mill closed in 1998 – has cost them dearly.
The levelling up report by think tank Onward cited Oldham as a crime ‘hotspot’, with a rate far above the 2021 national average of 85.5 crimes per 1,000 people.
Over the same period, the town recorded 123 crimes per 1,000 people, with 29,699 crimes committed.
Nationally, offences involving firearms (excluding Devon and Cornwall Police) increased by nine per cent between December 2022 and December 2023, rising from 5,850 to 6,367, according to the Office of National Statistics.
Sergeant Georgia Mansfield, from GMP's Oldham district, said extra patrols have been put in place following the incident on Prince Edward Avenue.
She told The Sun: "Our neighbourhood team take reports of any crime very seriously and will do what they can to make arrests, secure charges, and see crimes through to a positive outcome.
"Within the Coldhurst and Clarksfield areas, we have a dedicated neighbourhood team which consists of both warranted police officers and PCSOs, who provide vital work in gathering intelligence and tackling all manner of crimes in the area.
"I appreciate the recent incident involving a firearm was extremely concerning, but thankfully these particular types of incidents are rare, and officers were able to quickly make arrests and secure charges.”
Oldham Council declined to comment when approached by The Sun.
