Monday 22 November 2010

Gun Teen Behind Bars


A teenager, who hid a loaded handgun in his family’s garden shed, has been locked-up for seven years after being arrested in a sudden police raid.

Samuel Ridgway, 19, (pictured) of Keedonwood Road, Bromley, South-East London claimed mystery men hid the lethal gun, but DNA linked him to the weapon.

He was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court of possessing the converted automatic pistol, plus 85 live shotgun cartridges on November 18, last year.

Officers acting on intelligence executed a search warrant at the address and stuffed inside a holdall in the garden shed they discovered the gun, which contained one live round.

When quizzed by police Ridgway claimed the gun must have belonged to unknown men he once spotted in the garden, but his DNA was found on the gun and holdall.

Detective Constable Dan Rankine of Lewisham Police said: “I am pleased with the sentence and hope that it sends a clear and strong message to the small minority of individuals who are involved in gun crime, that officers from Lewisham are one step ahead and will ensure that they are arrested and brought to justice.

“In this case we responded to fast time intelligence, quickly obtaining a search warrant and removing a loaded firearm from the street and in doing so, continuing to keep the public safe.”

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