Shifnal man jailed for keeping gun illegally

A 63-year-old Shropshire man who kept an illegal gun and ammunition in a bedroom drawer at his home has been jailed for four years.

Julian Maxwell Danks, of Park Lane, Shifnal, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.

He admitted possessing a firearm without a certificate on September 8, 2009, and possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition without a firearm certificate on the same date.

Danks was sentenced to four years for the prohibited firearm and 12 months, to run concurrently, on each of the remaining two charges.

Mr Robert Edwards, prosecuting, said police were called to a domestic incident at Danks' home on September 7 last year where his partner told officers he owned an illegal hand-gun which was missing.

The court heard police searched the house and found a single-barrelled shotgun which was seized and when Danks returned to the house he was arrested.

Mr Edwards said: "The following day his partner contacted police and said she had found the handgun. Officers attended the address and seized the handgun."

Mr Denis Desmon, for Danks, said: "He was given the shotgun at a time when it would have been legal to own it."