Verdicts have been delivered on three men accused of attempted murder after a small time drug dealer was shot in the back during a violent burglary.

Gavin Smale, Paul Amoah and Lee Mitchell have all been charged with the attempted murder of drug dealer Yarislav Divorkis, as well as unlawful wounding and aggravated burglary under the joint enterprise law.

After nearly three days of deliberation the jury returned this morning to deliver a unanimous verdict finding Amoah guilty of attempted murder but Mitchell and Smale not guilty.

Amoah was also found guilty of one charge of wounding with intent while Mitchell was found guilty of both charges of wounding with intent. Smale was found not guilty of both offences.

Smale was found guilty of unlawful wounding while all three were found guilty of aggravated burglary with weapons.

Mr Divorkis, also known as Yarick, nearly died after being shot in the back by Amoah during a break-in at the property in Drump Road, Redruth last year.

Another man in the property, Terry Madden, was hit five times on the head with a hammer during the incident at the house on July 6 by Mitchell.

Smale, aged 43, of Fore Street, Redruth, Amoah, aged 38, of No Fixed Abode, Camborne and Lee Mitchell, aged 28, of Tresaderns Road, Redruth were each charged under joint enterprise with one count of attempted murder, two counts of wounding with intent, one count of unlawful wounding and one count of aggravated burglary with weapons. They had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The court heard that Amoah and Mitchell had turned up at Smale’s caravan where he lived with his partner at the rear of the Red Lion pub in Redruth on the morning of the attack. Smale told the court he owed them money for drugs as both he and his partner were drug addicts.

They drove to the address of Mr Divorkis and Mr Madden. When Mr Madden refused to open the back door, Amoah and Mitchell, wearing balaclavas and dark clothing and smashed their way in while Smale waited outside.

Mr Divorkis fired an air rifle at them. Amoah returned fire with the Beretta pistol and hit Mr Divorkis once in the back nearly killing him. The bullet is still lodged in his sternum today.

Mitchell then hit Terry Madden five times on the head with a hammer as he tried to run up the stairs. Madden was not seriously injured but Divorkis nearly died.

Following the attack both victims identified Smale as one of the attackers as he was the only one not to have been wearing a balaclava whilst he waited outside the back door.

Police first went that night to where Smale lived in a caravan in the car park of the Red Lion pub in Redruth but he wasn’t there so they then went to an address in Harmony Close, Redruth.

The court was told when they arrived Smale was seen to run out the back of the house and across several gardens, all the time being watched by a police drone and he was tracked and arrested.

A second man who turned out to be Amoah was also seen leaving the house and was seen to enter another property in Cardrew Road which contained flats. Armed police cleared all the flats before coming to the final one where initially the woman inside wouldn’t let them in. When she relented police found Amoah hiding under a sofa. Mitchell was arrested the next day on a nearby street.

All three men gave conflicting reports of what had actually happened on that day.

Amoah told police he was in the blue Mini but he only drove Smale and Mitchell to the address. He said Smale went inside to buy cannabis while he and Mitchell waited in the car and they knew nothing about what happened in the house, and said it must have been Smale that did it.

Mitchell accepted he was in the blue Mini as a passenger but he said he stayed in the car while Amoah and Smale went in to buy cannabis.

Smale told police that all three went to the property but he didn’t realise the other two were armed.

Prosecutor Gregory Gordon told the jury that CCTV proved all three men had entered the property.

When police searched the Harmony Close address belonging to a woman who Amoah had borrowed the Mini off, they found a Beretta handgun wrapped in a pink cloth, put inside a baseball cap and placed inside a basket with children's toys in an alcove.

Amoah's DNA was found on the gun and the cloth. A hammer left behind at the scene had Mr Madden's blood on it and Mitchell's DNA.

All three men will be sentenced at a later date.