An Oldham man who took a gun with ammunition into the home where he was living with his mother to cover debts built up for his cannabis use has been jailed.

Scott Robinson had never been in trouble with the law before but last October owed his drug dealer £150 which he was unable to pay.

Manchester Minshull Court heard he agreed to take a package and when he got to his home on Higher Lime Road in Oldham realised it was a gun.

Police raided the property on October 22 last year and found the weapon and ammunition.

Robinson, 43, appeared in court to be sentenced for possession of a prohibited firearm after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.

The Oldham Times:

Prosecutor Adrian Farrow revealed what happened.

He said: “Police officers executed a search warrant at his address at Higher Line Road in Oldham.

“He lived there with his mother, her partner and his sister.

“The defendant wasn’t there, they searched the bedroom.

“They found a firearm and an ammunition magazine suitable for use with the firearm.

“The defendant did arrive at the house, he told the police he wanted to make clear he was culpable for the the firearm in question.

“He said he sometimes found himself in debt and that as a result of cannabis purchases, four days earlier he had spoken to the cannabis dealer about a debt of £150.”

He added that his version of events was supported by the prosecution and a test fire of the weapon had shown it was capable of being used.

Representing Robinson, defence counsel Howard Bernstein accepted his client faced an inevitable jail sentence.

He said: “It is personally tragic for the defendant, who four days previously to his being arrested, pressure was exerted on him to take the package.

“Had he known what it was at the outset he maybe he would have acted differently.

“He is a 43-year-old man of good character.

“Pressure was but on him but that is the nature of the beast if you get yourself into debt.”

Imposing a sentence, Judge Maurice Greene said: “This is a tragedy for you but you were in possession of a weapon that may well have been available to somebody else to kill or maim another person and firearms like these cannot be allowed to be in circulation and therefore people who use these sort of firearms often need people in somewhat vulnerable positions to store them.

“I am bound my law and the sentence has to be one of five years imprisonment.”