Stephen Dunford, 25, opened fire on a group of people and seriously wounded the boy in a mistaken identity drive-by shooting in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, earlier this year

Stephen Dunford has been found guilty of shooting a 12-year-old boy (Image)

A gang member who gunned down a 12-year-old boy in a case of mistaken identity has been jailed for life.

Stephen Dunford, 25, seriously injured the boy after he opened fire on a group of bystanders at a car park in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on January 12.

Sheffield Crown Court heard today how a second boy only narrowly avoided injury after a bullet passed through his jumper, just inches from his head.

The boy and a group of friends were on their way to a fun-park near the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield when a white car containing five men wearing hoods and balaclavas drove past and opened fire.

The court heard how Dunford said “we got one” after multiple shots were fired at the group.

The 12-year-old was pierced in the leg but managed to escape home where he called an ambulance but doctors have since been unable to remove the bullet lodged in his thigh.

Dunford, of Sheffield, was jailed for a minimum of 19 years.