Shot dead for 'dissing': Father hunted down and killed after berating man who yelled at youngsters

By James Tozer for the Daily Mail

Updated: 18:13 EST, 17 June 2009

A father was shot dead in the street over a row about 'respect' after he ticked off a man for shouting at a group of youths.

Mark Daniels, 25, told Elroy Otway to 'button it and clear off' after seeing him threaten the teenagers in a trivial dispute outside a McDonald's.

But 27-year-old Otway was furious at being 'dissed'  -  shown disrespect  -  and decided to take revenge on Mr Daniels, whom he had never met before, by calling a friend to find him and kill him.

Elroy Otway
Mark Daniels

Elroy Otway (L) has been sentenced for life for ordering the cold-blooded murder of Mark Daniels, 25, after Daniels challenged him for berating some youths

Two hours later, Otway and the hitman found him standing nearby outside a friend's house, where he was shot twice by the unknown gunman.

Otway yesterday began a jail term of at least 28 years for murder, despite not firing the gun.

After he was sentenced, Mr Daniels' mother Ann-Marie, 43, said: 'This culture of disrespect thing is disgusting.

'I can't get over how a trivial row could end up in my son lying dead. He just had a petty argument because he stood up for what he thought was right and it cost him his life.

'He only intervened because this man was much older than these teenagers.'

Mr Daniels, who has a four-year-old girl, was talking to youths outside a burger bar in Wythenshawe, Manchester, on August 22, 2006, when Otway drove up and began yelling at them.

Otway threatened him and went to call the hitman. They then set off to find Mr Daniels.

When Mr Daniels saw the gunman aim a 9mm semi-automatic pistol at him, he shouted, 'Wow mate, **** all that' before he was shot in the leg.

He collapsed and was shot in the back at close range before the killers calmly drove off.

Otway finished his shift as a cleaner before fleeing to Qatar.

The alleged gunman, Mark Joyce, 24, was arrested in Blackpool a month later. He was tried for murder but the case collapsed.

Otway returned last year and turned himself in to police at Manchester Airport, telling them: 'I want to sort this out.'

A jury failed to reach a verdict over his involvement but he was tried again and was yesterday convicted of murder after prosecutors used voice-distortion equipment to disguise the voices of terrified witnesses.

At Manchester Crown Court, Judge Anthony Gee QC told him: 'Those who involve themselves in the use of firearms can expect no mercy.'

Detective Sergeant Graham Brock, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'While Otway didn't actually pull the trigger, he was very much involved in this coldblooded murder.’



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