Raymond Pitt

Raymond Pitt was shot outside a nightclub on 30 December 1995.

He had been the leader of the Doddington gang and had been from Levenshulme.

He was shot three times in the head as he sat in a car with a teenager outside the West Indian Sports and Social Club in Moss Side. The teenager was shot in the legs.

It was said that his shooting resulted from a fall out amongst members of the Doddington Gang.

Three men were arrested following his murder.

One man, aged 22, that was arrested on suspicion of his murder was released soon after on 6 Janauary 1996, and two days later he was shot in the head and sholder in a hail of bullets in the small hours of 8 January 1996. The police found 27 cartridges at the scene which they determined had come from a shotgun, automatic and a semi-automatic. He was said to have only survived trhe shooting because he had been wearing a flak jacket at the time.

A second man, aged 23, that was arrested on suspicion of his murder was remanded, but later released in May 1996 after the police drop the charges.

The third man, aged 27, was tried later in November 1996 but acquitted. The following year in October 1997 he was shot three times in the leg. He told the police that he had no idea who shot him. He was said to have been a member of the Doddington Gang.

The trial of the 27-year-old man heard that three eye witnesses claimed that they had seen him shoot Raymond Pitt. However, he maintained that he had been inside the club at the time of the shooting., a claim that was backed by two friends. He said that it was not until the next day that he had heard it had been Raymond Pitt who was shot.

The witnesses said that the gunman had been the 27-year-old man and that he had been wearing a baseball cap woth the logo No Fear on the front.

One of the witnesses, who used a false name, Simon Walker, said that he, the 27-year-old man and Raymond Pitt had all been members of the Doddington Gang and that before the murder there had been a falling out between Raymond Pitt and another gang member that had led to a gunfight, although no one was shot.

He said that Raymond Pitt and the 27-year-old man then had a disagreement over thing and that on the night of the murder he had been sitting in his car in the car park when he heard a gunsho t and that when he looked over his shoulder he saaw everyone panicking and then noticed the 27-year-old man at Raymond Pitt's car firing two more shots. He said that he saw the 27-year-old man with a black handgun and that everyone then scattered.

He addmitted that he didn't tell the police about it until he was arrested several days later for supplying heroin. He denied that he was only giving evidence so that the judge that sentenced him could be told that he had helped the police. He said that he was doing it because Raymond Pitt had been his friend.

Another witness, who used the false name of Christopher Spence, said that he saw a fight between the 27-year-old man and Raymond Pitt a few days before the murder and that he had also been in the car park at the time of the murder and saw the 27-year-old man pull out a gun and fire into Raymond Pitt's car.

He addmitted that he had smoked heroin and cannabis that night and also that he had only told the police about the shooting after he was arrested for robbery. He also denied that he was giving evidence to get an advantage for himself from the police.