23 June 2009

Man Convicted Over Deadly Gun Find

A 20-year-old man has been found guilty of stashing three deadly 'spray and pray' guns in London yesterday.

The jury at Kingston Crown Court heard how on the 6 January 2009, following a proactive armed operation, officers from the MPS Specialist Crime Central Task Force with the assistance of the Specialist Firearms team entered a residential property in Rectory Park Avenue, Northolt.

Following a search of the property, they found a Mac-10, two Skorpion machine pistols and between 50-100 rounds of ammunition in a rucksack in one of the bedrooms.

Officers arrested four people at the property; Nathan Alexander, 20, a 40-year old man, a 38-year-old woman and a 56-year-old woman, on suspicion of possession of firearms and ammunition.

In interview Alexander denied any knowledge of the firearms but did admit that the rucksack the guns were found in belonged to him.

Alexander was subsequently charged with three counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and one count of possession of prohibited ammunition with intent to endanger life. The other three arrested were bailed and later released with no further action.

Following forensic examination of the guns, it was discovered that the Mac-10 and one of the Skorpion machine pistols were converted in such a way that when the trigger was pulled, a hail of bullets was 'sprayed' instead of a usual single bullet fired from the gun. Police consider the weapons to be extremely dangerous because of the amendments made to them.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Beyer, from the Met's central Task Force, said: "This conviction should go far in reassuring Londoners that we are removing weapons and ammunition from the streets of the capital.

"We have succeeded in locking up a dangerous individual and we will continue to trace anyone involved in the possession or use of firearms."

Nathan Alexander, 20, unemployed of Rectory Park Avenue, Northolt found guilty of three counts of possession of a prohibited weapon with intent to endanger life and one count of possession of prohibited ammunition with intent to endanger life.

(JM/BMcc)