A SHOTGUN and 17 cannabis plants were found during police raids on a house in Chaddesden.

David Lane, who was living at the Lexican Road property, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

The 26-year-old said he had been looking after the Italian-made Commando 12-gauge pump-action combat shotgun, which was hidden under the sink in the kitchen, for a friend.

Derby Crown Court heard that Lane had taken custody of the weapon because he felt sorry for a friend "who had got himself into a situation and had been forced to hold on to the gun for a gang member".

Jailing Lane, Judge Ebrahim Mooncey said: "The saying goes 'a person is judged by the company they keep'. It seems this is a case where this has some resonance, because the friend you had asked you to do a favour by storing a gun."

Judge Mooncey said that he had to deal with Lane robustly.

He said: "Guns can take lives and cause serious injury.

"They encourage lawlessness and feature in gang culture and it looks like this gun you were storing for a friend was part of that culture."

Officers raided Lane's home on September 8 with a drugs warrant and found the cannabis plants growing under lights, behind a temporary wall in a bedroom. They went back to the property the following day with a firearms warrant and found the shotgun.

The court was told the estimated yield of the plants was between 476g and 1,071g, which would have sold on the streets for between £5,000 and £10,000.

Some plastic bags and two sets of scales were also found in the house.

There was no ammunition found with the weapon, said Sarah Allen, prosecuting.

Lane admitted producing a class B drug and possessing a shotgun without holding a certificate for it.

Steve Cobley, for Lane, said Lane had shown real remorse.

He said: "The gun he was holding out of naive, misguided loyalty for a friend."

He said that although Lane was associated with someone who was part of a gang, he was not part of a gang himself.

Mr Cobley said that although it was "a functioning firearm", it was not a prohibited weapon and there was no ammunition with it.

After the sentencing, Detective Constable Luke Stringfellow said: "This sends out the message that if you store guns on behalf of other people, then it's you who will be serving the sentence."

In July, a 19-year-old was jailed for three-and-a-half years for hiding a revolver for a Derby gang.

Carl Bestwick had been keeping the gun, 20 blank cartridges and two starting pistols, which could not fire bullets, at the YMCA in London Road, Derby.