THREE people have been sentenced after a man was lured from a restaurant before being shot in the knee in the car park.

The 30-year-old man was with friends at Albert's Restaurant on the East Lancashire Road, in Swinton, when the shooting happened on the evening of February 4 of this year.

At Manchester Crown Court today, Dmaine Robinson, aged 32, of Graythorpe Walk, Salford, was sentenced to 11 years and eight months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possessing firearms to commit an indictable offence and conspiracy to commit GBH with intent.

Michael Crimes, aged 40, of Littlegreen Gardens, Salford was also sentenced to six years and five months after pleading guilty to participating in the activity of an organised crime group.

And Amy Cooper, aged 32, of Barrfield Road, Salford was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to assisting an offender.

Shortly after 6.30pm on the night of the incident, the group were joined by Dmaine Robinson, who had been dropped off near the restaurant in a stolen Ford Focus.

He was then seen on CCTV frequently coming out of the restaurant to smoke cigarettes and at around 8.25pm, walked to the car park and stood in front of the stolen car before looking directly in to the car and walking back in to the restaurant.

As the group left at around 8.50pm and walked across the car park, an unidentified man got out of the Ford Focus and approached the victim before shooting him in the knee.

Robinson had hung back as the group exited the restaurant as he knew what was about to happen. He then quickly assessed the injuries that had been inflicted before leaving the scene in a taxi.

The shooter, who has still not been identified, fled the scene in the stolen car which was later recovered near to Cooper’s house after Crimes had set it on fire.

During the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, detectives trawled through hours of CCTV footage which showed the car making several stops before Robinson was eventually dropped off at the restaurant.

Analysis of Robinson’s phone records found that he was in frequent contact with Cooper and Crimes throughout the evening.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector Dave Turner, said: “Three people have today been held to account for their actions that left a man in hospital with serious leg injuries. Thankfully, he has recovered but clearly this incident could easily have had much worse consequences.

“Robinson stood back and watched as the group left the restaurant. He knew full well what was about to happen and had plenty of opportunity to stop it or raise the alarm but instead he watched it unfold and attempted to cover his tracks.

“While these individuals have today been sentenced for their role in this conspiracy, our investigation remains ongoing and our team are currently following several lines of enquiry in an attempt to identify the shooter and anyone else involved to ensure they are held accountable for their actions.

“Throughout the whole operation we have worked closely with our partners, sharing expertise to enable us to crack down on organised crime across Salford. We will continue to work alongside them to bring those involved in organised crime to justice.”