Duo sentenced after machete and firearm were used in an Oldham fight

McCauley Brooker (31/12/2000) of Eccles and Stephen Wilson (07/08/1995) from Salford were sentenced today after pleading guilty following their involvement in a serious attack.

Both were given time behind bars after appearing at Manchester Crown Court, Wilson for Section 18 Assault and being in possession of a bladed article, whilst Brooker was sentenced for Section 18 Assault too as well as firearms offences.

Wilson was sentenced to 12 years and four months imprisonment, while Brooker received seven years and a month imprisonment.

Back in May 2024, on the evening of Wednesday 22 May 2024, officers were alerted to an incident that had occurred on Busk Road in Chadderton. It had transpired that Wilson had presented at Royal Oldham Hospital A&E department with serious injuries that were confirmed to be gunshot wounds to his arms.

Through initial CCTV enquiries, detectives established that a disturbance took place on Busk Road in Oldham, with footage showcasing the incident in full.

Whilst Brooker was found at the scene having suffered from stab injuries. Both men were attacking each other at the time, receiving substantial injuries, where Wilson used a machete, and Brooker used a gun to inflict injuries to each other.

Following further investigation both men were later arrested and subsequently charged. This was after officers from our specialised Major Incident Team conducted further warrants in Abergele, North Wales to track those responsible down or who had further involvement.

During the trial, Brooker tried to claim self-defence but was quashed due to having in his possession a viable firearm, despite being chased by a group from the direction of Chancery Street onto Busk Road.

A tussle followed on the floor before between three to six discharges were made, with CCTV footage gathered helping detectives to unpick the full circumstances.

On the result, DS Smeeton said; “Today’s results show that despite the nature of the incident, those involved had access to and chose to inflict serious injury and violence on a street in Oldham.

“This obviously carried a heightened threat, and it is a miracle no innocent members of the public were caught in the crossfire and that Brooker and Wilson survived the attack with the injuries they sustained.

“Our investigation was focused on finding those responsible and sending a clear message that if you choose to arm yourself you carry a huge risk to your own personal safety but will also have to answer for the consequences of those actions.

“There is no justification for arming yourself with a weapon and as a force we continue to tackle all forms of serious violence, seizing more weapons than ever before and taking a proactive stance to keeping communities safe.”