A man, who was jailed for organising a drive-by shooting as a retribution hit on a rival traveller family, has had his sentence extended to life imprisonment.

Edward Dooley, 25, of St Edwards Way, Romford, was handed a 16 year prison stint at Chelmsford Crown Court in April for conspiracy to murder.

Following an appeal by Essex Police his sentence was yesterday increased to life by Lady Justice Sharp, at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Dooley will serve a minimum of 15 years before being considered for parole.

He orchestrated the attack as part of a violent feud between two traveller families who had been warring for years.

Dooley arranged for Kacey Adams, 34, of Covert Road, Hainault, and Daniel Wallace, 33, of St Mary’s, Barking, to carry out the shooting.

Adams and Wallace, who were also jailed in April, both had their sentences extended as well, and will each serve at least 23 years behind bars before being considered for parole.

On May 10 last year Adams and Wallace pulled up in a Mercedes next to the victim, who was waiting in a van at a road junction in Stanford-Le-Hope, Essex.

Adams blasted him with a shotgun, leaving the 54-year-old for dead.

He survived but was left with serious injuries to his face and a lung, and lost sight in one eye.

Dooley had organised the hit in retribution for a brutal machete attack on him, by one of the victim’s relatives in November 2015.

Paul Saunders, 30, was one of three masked men who set upon Dooley in Loughton, almost entirely severing his hand.

Dooley also suffered deep wounds to both legs, a fractured skull, and cuts to his head, back and neck.

Sauders, of Biggin Lane, Chadwell St Mary, was jailed for eight years for the attack in May last year, and the court at the time heard how the two traveller families had been warring for years.

A shotgun was fired six or seven times at Saunders’ home, while his mother was sleeping with her children, prior to the attack.

There were other incidents – one of Saunders’ brothers’ ears was severed in an attack and his brother and a cousin had been slashed across their stomachs.

Adams and Wallace also had their sentence increased for a brutal burglary in April last year.

The pair forced their way into a home in Halstead, Kent, and tied and gagged the homeowners before torturing them with boiling water.

The victims, a couple aged in their 60s, were also beaten and threatened with a knife and a hot iron.

Their ordeal lasted almost two hours, before Adams and Wallace eventually fled with cash and jewellery.

Speaking after today’s appeal hearing, Det Ch Insp Stuart Smith, senior investigating officer for shooting, said: “I believe these sentences reflect the seriousness of their crimes and the harm they caused their victims.

“They show that criminals involved in serious organised crime will be held to account and punished for their actions.

“The public as a whole are protected from these three dangerous individuals.

“While we welcome these significant sentences, the victims in these two horrific crimes will suffer the consequences of what happened to them for the rest of their lives and no sentence can reflect the trauma they have endured.”