Leeds gang leader's criminal past included kidnap and shooting of woman

Halliday and other men abducted the 26-year-old victim from her home on Savile Drive, Chapeltown, on December 10, 2003.

They bundled the woman into a red Subaru and drove out of the city along the A58 Wetherby Road.

Along the way, the gang quizzed her as to the whereabouts of three drug dealers from Little London

When she failed to give them any information, she was driven to a secluded lane where she was ordered to get on all fours.

The men then lined up like a “firing squad” and the woman was shot four times in the thigh, arm, knee and calf.

Gang members also taunted the victim during her ordeal.

One told her: “You’re just a stupid whore no one cares about. Your face will be all over the front of the paper tomorrow. If you tell, you’re dead.”

Halliday was recognised by the woman and later arrested.

He was found guilty of kidnap, wounding with intent and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Before becoming involved in crime, Halliday had been a talented young footballer and a junior with Bradford City.

Sentencing Halliday in 2004, Judge Norman Jones, QC, told him: “You had a glowing way to make your way as a footballer, you have a talent and you have thrown it away, an opportunity to play with league clubs that many young men desire more than anything else.”