Murdered Strand Gang henchman Joseph Thompson was a prime suspect into the unsolved killing of a rival gang leader

MURDERED Strand Gang henchman Joseph Thompson was a prime suspect in the unsolved killing of a rival gang leader. The 31-year-old was among five arrested by police over the murder of Croxteth Crew leader Danny McDonald, who was gunned down in Norris Green’s Royal Oak pub on New Year’s Day in 2004. He was blasted four times with a powerful handgun as he drank with other Crew members. But despite intense investigations, no one was ever brought to justice over the killing and Thompson was eventually released without charge.  Whether Thompson pulled the trigger or not, the killing sparked a bloody feud between the two gangs, at times transforming L11 into a war zone. Violence culminated in a revenge attack that saw the Strand Gang’s Liam ‘Smigger’ Smith – a close friend of Thompson – shot as he left Altcourse prison in 2006. In the wake of the murder, Thompson, then of Cottesbrook Road, landed himself in court for wearing “inflammatory” clothes which glorified Smith as a True Nogsy Soldier. Police described it as a “show of force” and one witness said it acted as the “mark of territory” of gang members. Thompson was also given a three-year Asbo after the court heard of the misery endured by Norris Green residents at his hands. He was barred from mixing with 34 members of the Strand Gang. In recent years, Thompson rose to the top of the Strand Gang hierarchy and pushed younger members to act as runarounds. “He was an intimidating man, he would force people out of their houses. People had to move to get away from him,” a source close to the gang told the ECHO. “All of the younger members would have had to swear loyalty to him.”