Ludlow man who took shotgun for repairs with an expired licence gets absolute discharge in court
A man who brought a shotgun into a Shrewsbury gun shop for repairs for his employer and ended up in court for firearms offences has been given an absolute discharge.
Jeremy Jones, aged 45, had pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a 12-bore shotgun without a licence on November 29, 2022, and one of falsifying a certificate to acquire the same shotgun on November 30.
District judge Kevin Grego, sitting at Telford Magistrates Court to sentence Jones on Tuesday, said that Jones had taken the shotgun to Midlands Gun Services, in Shrewsbury, for repairs but it would not be accepted without paperwork.
On November 30 Jones had provided an image of a licence with someone else's name and said it covered him. But the shop manager said it was not his shotgun and he "had to come clean", the court heard.
Jones, of Henley Road in Ludlow, had held a licence for many years, had worked as a groundskeeper for 23 years and had "forgot to renew" the licence, the judge said in summing up the case.
Prosecutor Sara Beddow added that in taking the gun to the shop Jones was "trying to be helpful" to his employer and was of previous good character.
Judge Grego said: "The report makes it plain that he could not say no to his employer who had thought he was lawfully allowed."
The court heard that Jones has a zero-hours contract with his employer and did not want to upset them.
