Six people have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Joanne Penney, an innocent woman shot dead during a feud between rival drug gangs in Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf, in March 2025.
Penney was staying at a house on Llys Illtyd when she answered a knock at the door. Drug dealer Marcus Huntley, 22, pulled the trigger of a gun that had been sourced from the criminal underworld in Leicester and transported to Cardiff specifically to carry out a revenge attack.
Sentencing the six at Cardiff Crown Court, Mr Justice Fordham said Penney's life was "senselessly taken" as an "innocent victim in a drugs war." The case was heard across two lengthy trials.
Huntley and Jordan Mills-Smith, 34, from Cardiff, had been working on behalf of Leicester drug boss Joshua Gordon, 28, when weeks before the murder a rival gang member beat and humiliated one of their dealers at the same address. A reprisal was planned. A gun and ammunition were sent from Leicester to Cardiff. On the night of the murder, Melissa Quailey-Dashper, 40, knocked on the door pretending she wanted to buy drugs, drawing Penney into the line of fire.
Renaldo Baptiste, described as having ordered the attack from a prison cell, will serve a further 42 years before he can be considered for parole. The judge told him: "This was a murder by you, as an offender who had previously been convicted by murder." Fordham told Baptiste he will not be eligible for parole until 2068, adding: "You will be 81 years old." There were gasps in the public gallery.
Huntley must serve a minimum of 30 years. Mills-Smith faces at least 27 years. Gordon received the longest minimum term among those not already serving time, at 32 years. The judge told Gordon he was a "full and willing participant [of the OCG]," adding: "More than that, you were the dominant member. It was about getting the upper hand."
Quailey-Dashper must serve at least 14 years. Kristina Ginova, 22, Gordon's girlfriend who destroyed evidence the day after the shooting, received a minimum of 12 years.
After the shooting, Huntley buried the gun in a Cardiff park before fleeing the city. He was arrested after police stopped him on a National Express coach. Mills-Smith fled to Suffolk before also being taken into custody. All six were arrested within days of the murder.
