Pc murder bid thug avoids more jail

Marcus Bailey was given the sentence for possession of a firearm after his defence team inadvertently produced the weapon at his attempted murder trial.

There was clapping from the 26-year-old's supporters at Wolverhampton Crown Court when the judge ruled it would run concurrently with his existing life term for attempted murder.

During his Birmingham Crown Court trial last June, jurors were shown photographs of guns taken from Bailey's mobile phone.

Bailey believed one of the weapons shown, which was not the one he used to shoot Pc King, was fake and his defence team presented it to a firearms expert in the witness box in a bid to back up his claim.

But the plan backfired when the expert revealed the Mauser 7.63mm was capable of firing.

Police seized the weapon and Bailey, who was ordered to serve at least 15 years before being considered for parole, was charged with possession of that firearm.

Judge John Warner gave him the minimum five-year sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.

Mr Phillip Bradley, prosecuting, said it was "almost certain" that Bailey, who pleaded guilty, would not have been given a stiffer sentence had prosecutors known about the second gun when they investigated Pc King's shooting.

Lawyers and the judge agreed Bailey's new sentence should start immediately, and not after he finished serving his sentence for attempted murder.

Judge Warner said firearms caused "great harm". Bailey, of Warnford Walk, Merry Hill, shot Pc King twice and left him for dead after being confronted by the officer in 2006.

Thirty-three-year-old Pc King is back at work now but has been left traumatised.

Vinny Bolina, spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service, said parole officials could take the latest conviction into account when they decide if and when Bailey should be released.