An 18-year-old gang member has been imprisoned for possession of a firearm after he was stopped in a vehicle with a shotgun.
Martin Eze, of Green Lane, Dagenham, was sentenced to four years and four months at Isleworth Crown Court today (Wednesday, February 21).
On April 3 last year, officers from Operation Trident, supported by armed response officers, stopped a grey Volkswagen Sharan car in Whalebone Lane North near to the junction with the A12.
Inside the car was a sawn-off shotgun, a balaclava and gloves.
Eze, Akin Akinunle, 19, of Turpin Avenue, Collier Row, and Georgie Roy Sennis Ashman, 22, of Tarling Road, Canning Town, were in the vehicle and arrested after officers found the sawn-off shotgun.
During the two-month trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court, the jury heard evidence that Ashman was involved in gang activity.
The shotgun was collected from the Collier Row area in order to carry out a possible revenge attack.
The men were found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court on December 21 last year and all three were sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court today.
Ashman was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Akinunle was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Det Insp Steve Meechan of the Trident and Area Crime Command said: “This was an intelligence led investigation conducted by Trident officers, targeting criminal gangs actively involved in firearm enabled criminality and acts of violence.
“These defendants posed a significant threat to the public, arming themselves to actively seek out and take revenge upon rival gang members.
“I have no doubt that arresting and bringing them to justice has prevented deaths or serious injury.
“The substantial custodial sentences handed down to them today, should act as a significant deterrent to those involved in all aspects of gang related crime.
“Trident officers will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to disrupt and detect such criminality, helping prevent significant harm to the communities of London.”
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