Sawn-off shotgun found in Wolverhampton police raid

The gun was hidden under clothing in a drawer while the ammunition was concealed in a plastic bag, revealed Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting, at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Officers were searching for drugs when they raided the one-bedroom property in Chervil Rise, Heath Town, Wolverhampton, with a search warrant on November 15, it was said. They recovered a small amount of crack cocaine before the mini arsenal was uncovered, the court heard.

The flat was the home of Andrew Meggoe, aged 29, who almost ten years earlier had been sent to a Young Offenders Institute for four and a half years for conspiracy to rob and possession of an immitation firearm in June 2004, added the prosecutor. Mr Searle revealed that the sawn off shotgun was in an old drawer on the floor and was covered by clothes while the cartridges were in a black plastic bag.

Meggoe, who had other previous convictions, was arrested in connection with both the drugs and firearms finds and gave a no-comment interview. He has since been fined £50 by a different court for possession of the crack cocaine.

He pleaded guilty to possession of the shotgun and ammunition on the basis that he had agreed to look after the weapon and cartridges in exchange for drugs for his own use. This was not officially accepted by the prosecution but they did not seek to prove otherwise.

Mr Christopher O'Gorman, defending, explained: "He has been addicted to both alcohol and drugs. This is a classic and somewhat troubling case that serves to show how far someone will go to keep the channel of supply open and the dealers off his back. He had no intention of using the firearm himself."

Meggoe was jailed for three years by Judge John Warner who said: "You were prepared to provide a home for some time for such a serious weapon and cartridges to go with it, enabling it to stay in circulation. That sort of item can only be used by other people – I accept not you – for very serious criminal purposes."