Anthony Cook

Antony Cook was shot dead in a car in Kincardine Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, following a high-speed car chase through Manchester.

He had been a passenger in a black Volkswagen Jetta car that was being chased through the city centre by a grey BMW car at about 12.30am on 15 August 1999. The driver of the Volkswagen turned into Kincardine Street where he then crashed into the back of another car and then hit a lamppost, coming to a stop.

It was said that during the chase that the occupants of the BMW had been shooting at the Volkswagen with an automatic weapon.

After the Volkswagen car came to a halt the BMW car pulled up beside it and a man got out and went up to the Volkswagen and shot Antony Cook seven times in the head and chest. He then shot the driver three times in the stomach.

The driver managed to get out of the car and then approach the couple that had been in the car that he hit and said to them 'Help me, I've been shot.'. He was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary where he was placed under police protection and later recovered.

However, Antony Cook was found dead in the car.

It was said that he had been a member of the Doddington gang, a large Manchester drugs gang based in Moss Side, and that he had been targeted because he was trying to assert himself in the gang.

The police described the murder as a 'premeditated, cold-blooded murder'.

His murder was one of a number across Manchester around that time which were said to have been gun and drug related and newspaper articles noted that guns amongst the drugs gangs had become 'almost a fashion accessory'. The area was described as Manchester's 'Bronx', whilst Manchester had previously been known as Gunchester.