Drug dealer and burglar rumbled by cops as he lay in hospital after being shot

A man's secret life of crime was exposed when police visited him in a hospital bed after he was shot in the legs.

Drug dealer Curtis Byrne was rumbled after officers became suspicious of his behaviour following the terrifying attack. Messages, videos, screenshots and notes on his phone linked him to a host of offences, including a string of burglaries.

Byrne was seriously injured when a gunman opened fire on the Woodchurch Estate, Wirral, shortly after 8pm on December 3 of last year.

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Residents took refuge upstairs in their homes after hearing "two shots separated by a scream", the Liverpool ECHO reports. A man who was hit by these bullets was then seen being "dragged" through gardens by another in search of safety.

Witnesses stated that the gunman fled the scene on a moped before police arrived at the scene. Officers later attended Aintree Hospital two days later to obtain a statement from Byrne.

Andrew Jebb, prosecuting, said Byrne was "unable to provide any reason why anyone would want to shoot him" when asked by police. They then asked to look at his mobile phone "to see if anything on it could assist their investigation".

But the 21-year-old aroused suspicions when he began deleting materials from the device. Byrne, who appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via video link yesterday afternoon - and walked with the use of a crutch - eventually handed the phone over and provided the pin.

When analysed, it revealed he had been involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis and a string of burglaries in which high value cars and motorbikes were stolen.

Detectives found a "large number of fairly short video clips"