There was also ‘a considerable amount of live, compatible ammunition’, Hull Crown Court heard
Police found two highly dangerous sawn-off shotguns – and a large amount of live ammunition – after following and searching a van that had been used for criminal activities. The police had been alerted by shocked residents who suddenly spotted two men smashing a window at an empty property.
The masked men later fled from the van but a police dog caught up with and detained one of them after he ran into a graveyard, Hull Crown Court heard. Neil Spencer, 41, who was in custody on remand, admitted two offences of possessing a prohibited firearm on April 17.
David Godfrey, prosecuting, said that, shortly before midnight, residents of Goddard Avenue, west Hull, saw two men, one of them Spencer, smash the bottom window of an unoccupied property. One of them was holding a metal pole and the other was holding something that had been stolen.
Guns were seen. The men, wearing dark clothes and masks, drove off in the van. A cannabis factory was found inside the house, including lighting and ventilation.
“The electricity had been bypassed,” said Mr Godfrey. Police went to the area and saw a van being driven towards Chanterlands Avenue.
They followed it and the men got out. Spencer ran into a graveyard but a “quick-thinking” police officer released a police dog, which caught up with Spencer and detained him. Spencer was taken to Clough Road police station.
His van, with false number plates on it, was searched and two sawn-off shotguns were found as well as a large amount of ammunition in the rear of it. One of the rifles was in a fixed firing position.
There were two spent cartridges inside it. The barrels of the other sawn-off shotgun were both empty.
“The defendant is from Doncaster and he was travelling over to the city of Hull for the purposes of crime,” said Mr Godfrey.
During police interview, Spencer made no comment to all questions. His previous convictions included wounding in 2011, cannabis cultivation in 2016, assault causing actual bodily harm in 2017 and attempted robbery in 2018.
Rachel Scott, mitigating, said it was serious offending but Spencer had pleaded guilty. His most recent offence was assaulting an emergency worker in 2022, when he was fined.
“He does have quite a record,” said Miss Scott. “He understands that this is a lengthy prison sentence today. He understands and he has prepared himself for that. He understands that he rightly deserves that.”
Spencer had suffered problems and he turned back to alcohol and mixing with former bad associates. “He has used alcohol as an emotional crutch,” said Miss Scott. “He is very sorry to have appeared back in court again. He can’t make any excuses and he doesn’t want to. He knows that he has behaved terribly.”
Deputy circuit judge Geoffrey Marson KC told Spencer: “You were pursued and stopped and in the van there were found these two sawn-off shotguns, together with a considerable amount of live, compatible ammunition. There they were, in this van, in a public place where anyone could have gained access to them and stolen them.
“You were in possession of them for criminal purposes. There is no purpose for weapons such as this other than to use in the course of crime, whether to kill or threaten. It’s clear that these weapons could have been used to commit crime.”
Spencer, of Ingleborough Drive, Sprotbrough, near Doncaster, was jailed for six years and nine months. A deprivation order was made on his van.