Moment dressing-gown clad Birmingham gunman told 'alright mate, you're under arrest'

This is the moment a Birmingham gunman was arrested in his dressing gown after trying to murder mourners in a horrifying wake shooting. Donning a blue and red pyjama with his hood up, Meshaq Berryman was captured on bodycam in the back of a police van during his arrest.

The 21-year-old gunman was told by an officer: "Alright mate, Mr Berryman, you're under arrest for the attempted murder of [the victims] on Friday, February 24 on Hamstead Road." Berryman, of Chain Walk, Birmingham, fired four shots into a crowd of people attending the wake of Akeem Bailey in 2023.

Read more:First picture of Birmingham wake shooter as police say it 'could have been triple murder probe'

Berryman, who earlier admitted possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and cannabis, will be sentenced on December 6 after he was convicted of three counts of attempted murder. 'Sheer panic' was caused as mourners were forced to run for their lives during the wake at around 6pm.

Four shots were fired from the back of a stolen Qashqai towards a crowd of people mourning the loss of Mr Bailey, who was stabbed in a phone row. The car sped off before being found abandoned two miles away in Nechells the next day.

A man aged 19 was shot in the chest and another man the same age was hit in the left foot. An 18-year-old man was hit in the right knee, while a girl aged 14 was hurt when she was knocked over and trampled as people fled the gunshots, police say.

Detective Inspector Nock, from the major crime team at West Midlands Police, said: “This was a targeted shooting at a gathering of people who had come to pay their respects to a young man who had himself lost his life to violent crime.

“While the young man who died did not have connections to gangs, Berryman believed there would be people linked to gangs at his wake. This could easily have been a triple murder investigation and it’s by luck really that people weren’t killed on that evening.

“We put a huge number of officers into the investigation, to ensure we had a really clear picture of what had happened. CCTV, mobile phone and forensic evidence placed Berryman in the car at the time that the shots were fired and he is now facing many years behind bars.

“Gun crime causes absolute misery to the families of those who are injured or killed, and can spread fear among residents whose neighbour hoods are impacted. Our Major Crime Teams work with local officers to build a clear picture of who is involved in gun crime in an area and take decisive action to get them off the streets and put them behind bars.”