Man jailed after handgun discovered following police raid

Police had been alerted to a gun allegedly being pointed at person in an Oldbury street on October 24 but the victim declined to co-operate with the investigation,a judge heard.

This triggered a raid on a nearby address where Daniel Jayes was 'sofa surfing' with the mother of his children and was asleep when the officers arrived on October 17, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The 31-year-old defendant admitted having a pistol and told them where both the weapon and ammunition were hidden under shelving in the property, explained Mr Harinderpal Dhami, prosecuting.

The serial number and other identification marks had been removed from the weapon which was specially adapted to use a silencer and fire live ammunition rather than the blanks it was built for.

Jayes, who had nine previous convictions involving 15 separate offences, claimed to be looking after the gun for somebody he was too frightened to name.

No evidence was offered by the prosecution as to who had supposedly been involved in the earlier incident when a gun was pointed at an individual.

Miss Blondelle Thompson, defending, said: "His life was spiralling out of control. He was not living a law abiding life and was mixing with unsavoury characters.

"He is ashamed of his behaviour and wants to change his ways so he is a better role model for his children and the kind of son his mother deserves."

The gun was a prohibited weapon but even if it could have been kept legally by a member of the public it would still have been out of the reach of the defendant who was banned from having any firearms because of his criminal record.

Jayes, of no fixed address, admitted possession of both a prohibited firearm and three rounds of ammunition. He was also in breach of a 22 month suspended prison sentence imposed for a burglary.

He was jailed for a total of eight years two months by Judge Simon Ward who told him: "There is no way that gun could be traced to anyone. It had been adapted purely for criminals to use and you have been living the life of a career criminal.

"The only way it could stay in circulation and the gunman remain undetected is for people like you to look after the weapon. You were playing an extremely important role in gun crime."