Manchester’s largest hospital was transformed into a war zone as two of the city’s most infamous gangs clashed, causing medical staff and patients to run for their lives. Young thugs from the Gooch Gang and the Longsight Crew chased each other through corridors on mountain bikes, brandished firearms at one another, and used hospital trolleys as battering rams.
It was 2004 and the gang warfare that had been terrorising the city had just infiltrated the supposed safe haven of Manchester Royal Infirmary, starting with an accidental encounter, reports the Manchester Evening News. The animosity between the two gangs could be traced back to the 2002 murder of Stephen Amos, who was gunned down outside Bexx Bar in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Stephen, aged 25, was the brother of Gooch gang leader Lee Amos. Lee believed the Longsight Crew, a breakaway faction of the Doddington gang and the Gooch’s sworn enemies, were behind the killing. His suspicions seemed confirmed when, in 2003, Richard Solomon, then a 26-year-old member of the Longsight Crew from Hulme, was found guilty of murdering Stephen Amos and attempting to murder another man. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, the crown’s justice wasn’t enough for Lee Amos, who was serving time for firearms offences. Even from his prison cell, he was determined to settle old scores, particularly with the Longsight Crew. South Manchester was a powder keg waiting to explode and the aftermath of a drive-by shooting on Friday, April 23, 2004, provided the spark that ignited the fuse.
A 20-year-old member of the Gooch gang spotted a rival from Longsight in Manchester Royal Infirmary following a shooting, sparking a violent confrontation. Reinforcements were summoned and soon the warring gangs were clashing in various parts of the hospital including corridors, wards, the x-ray department and the fracture department, causing ‘mayhem and panic’.
Police arrived quickly at the scene, and although there were reports of guns being present and CCTV footage of one firearm being brandished, none were found on hospital premises. It later emerged the weapons were smuggled out of the hospital in the chaos that followed. Following the violence, panic buttons were installed in key parts of the hospital.
In May the following year, 10 gang members appeared at Preston Crown Court in connection with the feud. Prosecutor Robert Elias told the court that after the original encounter, two waves of warring thugs descended on the hospital. Judge Andrew Gilbart QC remarked as the gang members were awarded a 14-year sentence after admitting to various offences, that hospitals are essential to the wellbeing of all and an essential feature of a civilised society, where care and compassion thrive.
Detective Sergeant Chris Downey commented after the judgment: “A hospital should be a sanctuary, a safe place where patients can recuperate, not an arena in which to settle violent disputes.”