Two Jailed Over Greenhithe Shooting

A father and son arrested and charged following a shooting in Greenhithe have been sentenced for their crimes.

Billy Smith senior, 42, was imprisoned at Maidstone Crown Court for five years. His son, Billy Smith junior, was sentenced to three months – which he has already served on remand.

Both were arrested as part of an investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate following an incident in Moorhen Walk, Greenhithe, at 9.50pm on Monday 1 August in which a 50-year-old man sustained gunshot wounds to his head and abdomen.

Smith senior, of Hillhouse Road, Stone, pleaded guilty at a hearing on Thursday 20 October to causing grievous bodily harm to 50-year-old Alfred Harbour. He also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm when prohibited. Smith junior, of Moorhen Walk, Greenhithe, admitted at the same hearing to common assault on a 17-year-old man. This relates to an earlier linked incident in St John’s Road, Stone which acted as the catalyst for the shooting.

The court heard how the incident in Moorhen Walk occurred against a lot of background material and a history of violence between some members of the Smith and Harber families – feuds they preferred to deal with themselves.

In sentencing Smith senior to two years’ imprisonment for the serious assault and three years’ imprisonment for the firearms offence, Judge Philip Statman said: “You aren’t to take the law into your own hands – the community were left in profound shock. What happened was out of a Wild West film.”

Detective Inspector Chris Carter, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: “This was a despicable crime. Billy Smith senior used a firearm in the middle of a busy housing area on a summer evening and people living within the vicinity were rightly terrified.

“I am satisfied with the sentence imposed today - it does relate to lesser charges than Smith senior was originally arrested on suspicion of, but his guilty plea has saved members of the public from having to give evidence as part of a trial.”