Telford couple in the dock in Wolverhampton attempted murder trial given opposite verdicts by jury
A Telford couple will be separated for decades after Richard Beckles was found guilty of attempted murder as Claire Evans was cleared of any involvement in the shooting of a man in Wolverhampton.
Beckles, aged 45, and Evans, 42, of Wavertree Close, Telford, were in the dock together when the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court found him guilty of attempted murder and possessing a shotgun with intent to endanger life and cleared her of assisting an offender.
Hardened criminal Beckles masterminded the assassination attempt on an underworld rival on September 18, 2024. He and three others slashed the tyres of their victim and then laid in wait for him to leave the Harp pub in Wolverhampton. Unable to drive away, the man was chased down and blasted with a shotgun leaving him riddled with pellets for the rest of his life.
That night he and Cleo Johnson drove back to Telford. Beckles woke her in the early hours and told her to give Johnson a lift back to Birmingham. She refused at first but reluctantly agreed not realising the journey was also part of Beckles plan to get away with the crime by swapping cars involved in the shooting.
Evans was subsequently arrested and charged with assisting an offender which could have seen her serving up to ten years in prison.ough A trial last year was abandoned due to overrunning into jurors pre-booked holidays. However, the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court believed her innocence and that of another driver hoodwinked into the violent caper.
Michael Soledolu, aged 34, of Walmead Croft, Birmingham. His evidence that he unwittingly helped the gunmen secured guilty verdicts for his co-defendants eading to him being cleared of all charges.
Khyle Gayle aged 32, of Greenford House, Birmingham; Cleo Johnson, aged 40, of Sparrows Forge Drive, Walsall; and Constantine Campbell, aged 52, of Puddlers Drive, Tipton, were found guilty of attempted murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life after a five week trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Sentencing Beckles to 30 years Judge Jonathan Gosling KC outlined his violent past to the court. Beckles had served time for shooting a man in a pub car park, being sentenced to 12 years after turning up the day after an argument with a gun, and being given five years after police found a gun at his home in 2020.
