Man who stashed firearms escapes prison

9:49am Thursday 28th August 2008

Comments (24)   Have your say »

A man who stashed a deadly sub-machine gun with ammunition and a pistol at his grandmother’s house has walked free from court.

The law states that the minimum term for anyone caught with a firearm is five years behind bars.

But James Kelly will not spend a day in prison. Last night anti-gun campaigners slammed the “soft touch” decision not to jail the 20-year-old by a judge who declared Kelly was not a danger to the public.

Kelly, a former crack cocaine and heroin addict, claimed he was forced into looking after the weapons by a gang he owed £10,000 to.

Police raided his grandmother Vera Kelly’s home in Warren Drive, Crawley, and found a Stirling sub-machine gun, a Glock pistol with 54 bullets, a magazine for the machine gun and a silencer.

But judge David Rennie allowed Kelly to walk free from Hove Crown Court yesterday with a 12-month sentence suspended for two years, a 9pm to 6am curfew and 200 hours community service.

Raymond Stevenson, of the anti-gun Don’t Trigger Campaign, said: “I’m disgusted by the judge’s decision and I feel sorry for the Sussex community.

“This decision sends out a message to everyone hiding weapons that if you get the right judge you won’t get the mandatory sentence.

“We are burying people on a weekly basis because of gun crime and it isn’t acceptable to let people walk free from court, whatever their excuses are.”

Earlier this year, one of Britain’s senior police officers, Merseyside chief constable Bernard Hogan-Howe, condemned judges who were giving lenient sentences for firearms offences.

But Sussex Police refused to comment on Kelly’s sentence.

Paula Ogungboro, of Mothers Against Guns, whose son Eugene was shot dead in 2003, criticised the judge’s decision.

She said: “It’s disgusting. This isn’t justice, it’s outrageous.

“What is the law for if soft touch judges are allowing people with deadly weapons hidden in their homes to get off? I don’t understand it.

“What is this judge getting paid for – for giving someone a 12-month suspended sentence when he should have got five years?”

Kelly, of Hyde Square, Upper Beeding, admitted at an earlier hearing having firearms and ammunition without a licence.

He had gone to live with his grandmother in Crawley in 2004 and stashed the guns in her attic.

He said the weapons were not his but he refused to reveal who they belonged to. It was not known if the guns worked.

Simon Burch, defending Kelly, said he got involved in drugs when his grandfather and aunt died two years ago and his mother and brother moved to Holland. He said: “The defendant couldn’t work because he was in the grip of an addiction.

”He racked up a debt and got himself in financial difficulties.

“The defendant took the bag which contained the items which contained the subject matter of this indictment.

“The defendant now has had a girlfriend for a period of nine months and is expecting his first child. He has addressed his drug problem and has got his life back on track.”

Judge Rennie said: “The minimum sentence for an offence of this kind is five years. These sort of weapons are a blight on our society. Anybody who considers having any dealing with firearms of this sort must expect a minimum sentence of five years.”

However, Judge Rennie said Kelly’s “exceptional circumstances”, including his guilty plea, contributed to his decision to give him a lighter sentence.

He said: “I view this conduct as being wholly out of character and if I’m any judge of character, it’s never likely to be repeated.”

Lewes MP Norman Baker said: “I’m deeply surprised. Having a sub-machine gun seems to me rather more serious than the sort of thing people would expect to walk free from court for.”

What do you think of the sentence? Comment below.