A man and two teenagers have been locked up awaiting lengthy custodial sentences after an assault rifle with military grade bullets was fired at a house in Bradford.

The three were this afternoon convicted of possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life after a six day trial at Bradford Crown Court.

Michael Webster, 28, of Hill Crest, Swillington, Leeds; Byron Kiloh, 19, of Broadstone Way, Holme Wood, Bradford, and a boy of 15, who cannot be named because of his age, were all remanded in custody after the majority 10-2 verdicts were returned.

There were sobs, gasps and angry shouts from the packed public gallery when the defendants were found guilty.

During the trial, the court heard that a property in Hill Top Road, Thornton, was sprayed with bullets from an automatic weapon in a targeted attack shortly after 2am on October 20, 2017.

Sixteen shots were fired at the house and three more struck a BMW car belonging to the householder.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron said the silence of the night was broken by the smashing of glass and, shortly afterwards, the sound of gunfire.

A nearby resident saw a VW Golf and a motorcycle speeding away from the scene.

The house had been sprayed with bullets but the occupiers, Paul Serrant and Sophie Holmes, were upstairs and unharmed.

Mr Hendron said that at least 20 military grade bullets were discharged at the front door, a window and the BMW.

The bullets passed through the front door, down the living room and into the kitchen, where they lodged in cupboards and drawers.

Neighbours spoke of hearing the sound of rapid shooting.

One man said he counted up to 20 shots of semi-automatic gunfire and heard a high-powered motorcycle racing away.

CCTV images showed the Golf and a motorcycle, with a rider and a pillion passenger, approaching the Thornton area ‘in tandem’.

The prosecution was unable to say if the person who fired the gun was in the car or on the bike, Mr Hendron said. The weapon was never recovered by the police.

The prosecution case was that Webster had the gun, or aided and abetted the person with the weapon, while the two teenage defendants provided support.

After the guilty verdicts, Mr Hendron said that in the past 11 years there had been only 12 discharges recorded nationally from assault rifles. Almost 8,000 other firearms were discharged throughout the UK during the same period, making the Thornton shooting an “exceptionally rare occurrence.”

Judge Jonathan Rose adjourned sentence until April 2.

He ordered the preparation of probation reports on all three defendants.

The judge asked the probation service to assess if Webster, described by him as the ringleader, should be considered a dangerous offender and sentenced to a period of extended licence.

The boy of 15, who was just 14 at the time of the incident, will be interviewed by the Youth Offending Team.

Judge Rose said the shooting was “an exceptionally serious attack” on a house with two people in it, using an automatic rifle with military grade bullets that would penetrate wood and glass.

Two others involved in the incident were not before the court.

Judge Rose warned all three defendants to expect “a sentence of incarceration of some length.”

He spared the jurors from serving on a jury again for five years.