Shooting victim Barry Dawson, 60, killed in his home at Elm Street, Stanley on April 5, 2025 (Image: Handout / Durham Constabulary)

The gun that killed innocent grandfather Barry Dawson could still be on the streets. The factory worker was killed almost instantly when he was blasted with a handgun as he stood in the front room in Stanley, County Durham, on a sunny afternoon, in April.

Now Sean Reay, Kelvin Lawson and Thomas Sterling are beginning life sentences after a jury convicted the trio of murdering 60-year-old Barry. But despite extensive searches by police, the weapon that fired the fatal shot has never been found. And detectives were not able to establish how the killers got the weapon.

Det Chief Insp Neil Fuller, who led the investigation for Durham Constabulary , said:

See Full Page