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Search forAlvaston teenager found with a loaded pistol tucked in his trousers is locked up
Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 12:30
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."
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