A GUNMAN who went on the run after shooting a mother-of-three in the head has been jailed for 12 years.

Dennis Black caused devastating physical and psychological damage to his 28-year-old victim when he gunned her down in the entrance to a block of flats in Lockier Walk, Wembley, in June 2000.

After the crime, Black went on the run, hopping from country to country on false passports and managed to evade capture for more than nine years before he was arrested on the very estate where the shooting happened.

Black, who used the assumed identity Charles Burton, is believed to have spent time in Europe and Jamaica, and extensive appeals in the Wembley community and on BBC's Crimewatch failed to locate him.

But in June last year, Brent Police were tipped off and arrested the fugitive in Lambert Walk, Wembley. He was convicted of GBH with intent at Harrow Crown Court on March 29, and sentended to a 12-year jail term for the shooting.

On his arrest, the 44-year-old said: “I'm not a bad person, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“It's a relief anyway. You can only be a fugitive for so long, then you run out of money.”

The shooting followed a dispute between the victim and Black's 12-year-old son.

Soon after the row, Black came to the estate and after launching a volley of abuse, he pulled out a silver pistol and fired three shots at the entrance hall to the flats, one of which struck the woman in the face.

She was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but survived the attack. However, according to police, she suffered the devastating effects for many years.

Detective Sergeant Owen White, who brought Black to justice, said: “The victim suffered from depression and mental health issues and needed extensive treatment for the physical injuries.

“She couldn't go out of the house for four years without a member of the family being there, and it seems to have contributed to the end of her marriage.

“The sentence is a relief for her. She has spent a long time looking over her shoulder not knowing if she was going to bump into him.”

It is not known if the gun used by Black has been recovered, although a pistol was discovered soon after the shooting stashed in an abandoned council garage.

DS White said the mother had now begun to piece her life back together, getting a job as a manager, after summoning the courage to go to court and testify against Black.