'I’ll blow my head off,' Shropshire siege man told police
A man at the centre of a 10-hour siege in a Shropshire village told police he was going to “blow his head off with a gun”.
Aaron Jones, 36, was yesterday jailed for 29 months for a string of weapons offences after a judge heard two tasers and knives designed to look like credit cards were seized following the stand-off in Cross Houses, near Shrewsbury.
Armed officers and specialist police were sent to the area on November 20 last year after Jones claimed to be in possession of a firearm at The Chestnuts, off the A458.
He previously admitted possessing a disguised firearm without authority in relation to being in possession of a taser which was disguised as an object, and three offences of possession of a prohibited weapon.
Mr Richard Davenport, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing at Shrewsbury Crown Court: “Police received a call to the effect that the defendant’s ex-partner had been attacked.
“The police responded along with a dog handler. Blood was tracked all the way to the defendant’s house. When the police called at his address he told them that he was going to blow his head off with a gun.
“They got in at midday and he was arrested for assault. Later on that day the house was searched and a yellow drawstring bag was found underneath the sofa. It contained credit card-style knives, a stun gun, a taser disguised as a torch and a charger.”
Mr Jason Patel, defending, said firearms experts found the taser was of low voltage and not lethal.
“An individual asked him to look after the items that were to clear £1,000 of debts. He was to keep them for five weeks,” he told the court.
Jones was given an extended 10-year jail sentence in 2010 for his role in the stabbing of a man in Shrewsbury two years earlier. Prior to that he had convictions for violent disorder and affray.
Sentencing him for the latest offences Judge Anthony Lowe told Jones: “Nobody can be in any doubt that you were in possession of these items intending to use them for some form of criminal purpose.”
A further offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm was withdrawn by the Crown Prosecution Service due to lack of evidence.
At the time of the incident specially trained officer spent hours speaking to Jones in a bid to resolve the incident which related to a domestic matter.
A cordon was set up until about 1pm the following day, with police directing pedestrians away from the scene.
