Murder that shocked the town: Police officers reveal on TV how they found two gunmen holed up in Northampton flat

Police officers have revealed how they tracked down two gunmen who murdered a 28-year-old father in a busy part of Northampton.

Joshua Bains, 28, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest after he was found in Webb Drive, Upton, at about 9pm on October 4 2018.

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The investigation, called Operation Pageant, recently featured on the TV channel 'Dave' as part of its Special Ops: Crime Squad UK programme.

Speaking on the programme, detective chief inspector (DCI) White said: "You're more likely to solve a murder in the first six hours. So we really hit the first few hours after a murder really hard.

"The shop near where the offence took place had CCTV. That was a real break for the investigation. The first major break that we had."

The CCTV had captured the entire event, including the moment Josh's car arrived. Josh gets out to make a phone call and then a few minutes later a second car arrives.

DCI White said: "Very quickly an altercation takes place. There were some flashes there were some gunshots. Bullets were discharged."

Police said they used Josh's mobile phone to track down the offender's phone, which in turn helped discover the getaway driver.

Officers were also looking for the killers' white Ford Focus, which was at the scene of the crime.

Luckily for police, the control room got in touch to say there was a car on fire in a wooded area in Northants believed to be a Ford Focus.

DCI White said: "You'd have to assume if they were going to burn out a Ford Focus in a rural area like that, they'd have some means of getting away."

Police managed to track down the getaway driver, Lewis Carmody, to an area in London called Edmonton.

DCI White said: "When he returned home he was greeted with a welcome party from Northamptonshire Police, and we had him arrested."

The getaway vehicle was examined and contained a telematics box, which was described as a 'gold mine' of information for police and helped 'create a trail of movement' on that vehicle.

The telematics box identified that that vehicle had been on the same farmer's track where the Ford Focus was burnt out.

DCI White said: "From there, that vehicle travelled down to London, stopping in an area called Edmonton and then turned around came straight back [to Northampton] within a couple minutes."

However, police were still searching for the two gunmen and brought in senior inspector Greg Taylor of the National Ballistics Intelligence Service to examine bullet casings from the scene.

Inspector Taylor said: "With the cartridge cases recovered, we were able to infer they were likely from a Glock pistol. When the projectile came in to us, we were able to infer that that was from a 38-calibre revolver. There were two guns that had been used."

Fourteen days after the murder, police had two suspects, but they were believed to be hiding out in London until police received a vital tip off...

DCI White said: "We got some info through which suggested our offenders were holed out in a flat in Northampton.

"I was a bit sceptical about this. It made absolutely no sense that two people who were wanted for murder in Northampton, gone to London, potentially could have gone anywhere in England and Wales had returned to Northampton - the scene of the crime. It made no sense whatsoever. However, we follow up all information."

Officers surveilled the site and saw a woman from the block of flats in the Mounts return with three bags of chips.

Armed officers executed a warrant and what followed was an an intense showdown inside the block which saw the killers arrested.

The killers gave a no comment interview and the case went to Birmingham Crown Court in May 2019.

In June 2019, all three men were found guilty.

Gunmen Kayongo Shuleko and Jerome Smikle were given life sentences, with a minimum 32 years each. Getaway driver Carmody received six and a half years in jail but is now believed to be out.