Man jailedafter Uzi hidden at home ofgirlfriend

Olwen Dudgeon

A CRIMINAL has been jailed for eight years after police recovered a loaded Uzi sub-machine gun hidden under floorboards at his girlfriend’s home.

Officers discovered the 9mm sub machine gun with three rounds in it, two of them capable of being fired from it, under the bath at the address in Euston Terrace, Holbeck, Leeds, after a tip-off.

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Richard Gioserano, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court: “In other words this sub machine gun was loaded and ready to go.”

On the same date, March 25, they also recovered 26 shotgun cartridges and two 9mm bullets from on top of the fridge at the property. Those 9mm bullets had been converted from blanks by having live rounds inserted into them.

Hugh Swaby, 34, of Greenwood Drive, Alwoodley, Leeds, was later arrested by armed officers as he travelled back into Leeds on the M621. He denied that the gun or ammunition had anything to do with him.

But a jury yesterday found him guilty of possessing the prohibited weapon, possession of a firearm when he was prohibited because of his previous record and possession of ammunition when prohibited.

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The court heard he was only released from a 12-year jail sentence in September last year, imposed at Blackfriars Crown Court, for aggravated burglary when he and two other men were convicted after bursting into a house and threatening the occupants with a handgun and demanding money from them.

Jailing him for the recent offences Judge Alastair McCallum said he had been convicted on overwhelming evidence.

He said Swaby was an intelligent man but added: “You decided to fight this case rather than come clean.”

“This particular weapon is at the highest end of the scale of dangerous weapons coming into this country, a sub-machine gun”.

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He accepted in the state it was found it could not be fired as a sub-machine gun “ but just one bullet could have had disastrous consequences. What you were going to do with it I do not know and cannot speculate.”

He told the jury they might be surprised to learn that Parliament had not legislated the offences in the case as those where dangerous provisions came into force for public protection.

The jury heard Cherise Hofman, who was previously Swaby’s girlfriend had been arrested and admitted technical possession at her home but because of the “exceptional circumstances” involved in the gun being hidden there she was given a conditional discharge for six months.

James Littlehales, for Swaby, said he had already been recalled to prison on licence from his previous sentence.

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After the case Detective Superintendent Steve Bennett, from West Yorkshire Police's Crime Division, said: "Today's sentence reflects the danger these type of weapons pose.

“A lot of hard work goes into the preparation and intelligence gathering to locate and recover these weapons and this aspect of police work is often unseen by the general public.

“Cases like this should reassure the public that tackling gun crime is a high priority for West Yorkshire Police and the success we have in taking weapons off the streets is why West Yorkshire continues to have one of the lowest firearm incident rates of any similar sized police force in the UK.

“The public play a significant role in helping us to combat gun crime and I would continue to urge anyone who has any suspicions about someone carrying an illegal firearm to get in touch and contact us.

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“We will make sure that anyone found to be in unlawful possession of a firearm is arrested and brought before the courts.”

Anyone who suspects an individual of using or being in possession of an illegal firearm should contact police on 0845 60 60 606 or call Crimestoppers anonymously and on 0800 555 111.

Mr Bennett added: “All information is treated in the strictest confidence.”

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