Stephen Fairclough Wales, Newport Crown Court
Family PhotoA woman was shot dead when a turf war between rival drugs gangs turned violent, a court heard.
Joanne Penney, 40, was shot when she opened the door at Llys Illtyd flats in Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf, on 9 March 2025
Prosecutor Jonathan Rees KC told Cardiff Crown Court she “staggered back” into the living room before she fell to the floor and died moments later.
He said when Ms Penney opened the door she was “instantly shot to the heart with a single bullet from a handgun at close range”.
The jury was told she was shot as a result of a “clash of organised crime groups” (OCG) who were dealing drugs in the south Wales area.
The court has been told that a gang known as the “Rico OCG”, headed by Joshua Gordon, 27, from Leicester, was involved in “serious drug trafficking” in the Leicester area and had recently started selling drugs in south Wales.
Mr Rees said the arrival of the group had not been taken well by a rival gang already operating in the area who had, on two occasions, “confronted and humiliated” members of the Rico OCG in the Talbot Green area.
Following those incidents, the court was told, members of the Rico OCG discussed obtaining a gun and ammunition to “send a message to their rivals”.
Mr Rees said that Mr Gordon and other members of his gang drove in a convoy of two vehicles from Leicester to Cardiff.
He told the court that Mr Gordon remained in a car while Marcus Huntley, 21, from St Mellons, Jordan Mills-Smith, 33, from Pentwyn, Cardiff, and Melissa Quailey-Dashper, 40, from Leicester approached and knocked the front door of 10 Llys Illtyd.
When the door opened, Mr Rees said that Mr Huntley “immediately shot at the person” in the hallway of the property.
Mr Rees said “the trigger may have been pulled by Huntley” but that all defendants in this trial “are jointly responsible for her murder” by “knowing that they were acting to bring about, or encouraging to bring about, or assisting, encouraging others to bring about, at least really serious injury to another person”.
Joshua Gordon, Marcus Huntley, Melissa Quailey-Dashper and Jordan Mills-Smith deny murder along with Kristina Ginova, 21, and Tony Porter, 68, both from Leicester
Mr Gordon, Ms Quailey-Dashper, Ms Ginova, and Mr Porter also deny participating in the activities of an organised crime gang.
The court heard that police were called at 18.10 GMT on 9 March and were told that a woman had been shot.
When they arrived, they found Ms Penney on the floor of the living room with a single gunshot wound to the left hand side of her chest.
Attempts to revive her failed and she died at the scene.
The court heard the house was associated with drug abuse and that it was not Ms Penney’s home address.
The jury was told that the bullet and its cartridge were both recovered by investigating officers who concluded they probably came from a converted starter pistol.
The trial is listed for up to nine weeks.
