Deadly arsenal and £8,000 of drugs found in Leeds bedsit

A man caught with three guns and 1600 ecstasy tablets at his Leeds bedsit has been jailed for five years and three months.

Officers discovered a sawn-off shotgun, pump-action shotgun and an automatic pistol along with ammunition when they executed a search warrant at Raymond’s Hoolahan’s home in Cross Green Avenue, Richmond Hill, Leeds.

Officers from Leeds district’s specialist drugs team, Operation Quartz, made the discovery on August 15 this year.

When officers told 38-year-old Hoolahan they were there to look for firearms he pointed them towards the bathroom of the single-room bedsit and told them to look in a shopping bag in the shower basin.

The bag was found to contain a sawn-off, double-barrelled shotgun wrapped in a bin liner, a pump-action shotgun wrapped in a pillow case and several shotgun cartridges in plastic bags.

Moments later officers’ attention was drawn to a small suitcase next to a fridge.

As one went to open it, Hoolahan shouted for them to stop, telling them, “there’s something in there as well”.

The case contained a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a large quantity of what were thought to be ecstasy tablets, along with electronic scales and freezer bags.

Analysis of the drugs showed them to be Trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TMFPP) which is a Class C controlled drug, commonly sold as ecstasy.

A police drugs expert assessed value of the tablets as between £4,000 and £8,000.

When Hoolahan was interviewed he was asked why he had the items but refused to answer questions.

He admitted three offences of possessing prohibited weapons and one count of possession of a Class C drug with intent to supply.

Hoolahan was jailed for a total of five years and three months at Leeds Crown Court.

Tim Jacobs, mitigating, said Hoolahan had no previous convictions. Mr Jacobs said Hoolahan was originally from Ireland had was from a close-knit family.

He said his client moved to Yorkshire as he struggled to cope with the death of his parents and  became addicted to amphetamines.

The barrister said Hoolahan managed to beat that addiction but then developed an alcohol problem which made him vulnerable in the community where he lived.

Mr Jacobs said Hoolahan was pressured into storing the weapons and drugs on behalf of others he was too frightened to name. He did not stand to make any financial gain from looking after them.

After the case, Detective Inspector Jaz Khan said: “These weapons and ammunition have only one deadly purpose and their removal from criminal hands should serve to reassure local communities about our ongoing work to tackle gun crime.

“Hoolahan refused to explain why he had the guns and a significant quantity of drugs in his bedsit, but if he was storing them on behalf of someone else then he has paid a very high price.

“We hope the sentence he has received will serve as a warning to others of the sort of risk they are running.

“The investigation does not end here. These weapons will be sent for further analysis to establish whether they have been used in crime anywhere in the country and we will continue to work to identify anyone else linked to them.

“Once again, information from the local community has assisted us in making a significant seizure and we would encourage people to keep playing their part by passing information to us.”