POLICE have hailed the locking-up of a teenager found with

two loaded pistols as their first victory in a battle against

feuding gun gangs in Derby.

Duane Gregory, 17, who has been sent down for four years,

had a 9mm pistol, with a silencer attached, tucked into the

waistband of his trousers when he was stopped by police in

Osmaston Road, Derby, in March.

Ballistics evidence collected by police revealed that the

gun had been used to fire a shot into a darkened room at a

house in Cannock Court, Derby, two days earlier.

Gregory, of Wildsmith Street, Alvaston, told police that he

was looking after the gun.

He was also found to be the "custodian" of another pistol

found in a friend's garden.

The weapons were linked to a gang in Derbyshire with which

the teenager associated.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Stokes, who leads a special

unit to tackle gun crime and prevent gang activity in Derby,

said this was the first significant sentencing since police had

set up the team in December.

He said: "People who associate themselves with criminality,

gangs and firearms will be prosecuted and dealt with severely

by the courts, as seen by this sentence. Even if you are not

pulling the trigger and just looking after the gun, there will

be serious consequences.

"We're extremely pleased that two more guns have been taken

off the streets as part of our investigation into gang activity

in the city."

David Herbert, prosecuting at Derby Crown Court, said

Gregory and others were stopped on March 16 by police who had

been called to the area about a disturbance during which a

window had been smashed.

Gregory was asked if he had a weapon on him and he handed

over the gun, which he said he had found by the canal earlier

that night.

Mr Herbert said: "He now accepts he was given the firearm to

store. But he was out in Derby in a potentially violent

situation with a loaded weapon that had been used in Derby on

March 14."

On March 19, police found a pistol buried in a garden in

Carter Street, Allenton, where Gregory sometimes stayed.

The hole was marked by a piece of white wood and the pistol

was stored in two plastic bags, which had Gregory's

fingerprints on them. Other unidentified prints were found on

the gun.

Mr Herbert said both guns were test-fired and "found to work

with lethal effect".

The 9mm pistols were a modified German Reck Miami 92 with a

silencer and one derived from an Italian Valtro. Gregory

admitted two charges of possessing a prohibited firearm, having

a silencer attached and having ammunition.

Clive Stockwell, in mitigation, said Gregory had no previous

convictions for committing violent crimes or having a weapon.

"In relation to the first incident, although he had a firearm,

he did not produce it during the course of the incident," said

Mr Stockwell.

Judge William Everard said: "I'm not suggesting you had used

either gun but one had been fired two days earlier. You said

you were looking after the guns for other people.

"Anybody who reads the papers or watches the news is well

aware of the extent of gun crime in this country at the moment

and in the East Midlands."