Man caught with gun in hotel room - Luton

23/11/2012

When police raided a hotel bedroom in Luton they found a sawn off shot gun and ammunition under a cushion on the sofa.

The occupant of the room, Tariq Mahmood, initially denied all knowledge of the weapon, but then claimed he was under duress from a drug dealer and had only been looking after it for a day.

But that lie was unmasked when police found a photograph of the Italian gun, which had been taken on his mobile phone 5-months before.

Mahmood, 40, a father of three from Moor Path, Luton, pleaded guilty at Luton Crown Court to possessing a shortened shotgun and was jailed for three and a half years on Friday, 23 November 2012.

John Law, for Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecvution Service (CPS), said on 20 July this year police went to Room 224 at the Travelodge hotel in Dunstable Road, Luton, where they found the gun, which was in full working order, and six ammunition cartridges for it. They also found a small quantity of cocaine and the mobile phone.

"The barrel of the gun had been crudely shortened to 16-inch and the photograph on the phone had been taken in February. An expert confirmed it was the same weapon.

CCTV footage showed Mahmood arriving at the hotel carrying a black sports bag on 18 July. The room had been booked in his partner's name."

He said there was no evidence to link the gun with any offence.

Henry Day, defending said: "He has been addicted to cocaine for 10-years, which costs him £300 a week, and that has led him into debt.

"He had no intention of using the gun himself."

Judge David Farrell QC told Mahmood: "There is only one purpose for a weapon of that sort, and it has to be for a criminal purpose. It could be used to cause really serious injury, or worse still a killing. At the very least it could be used to frighten someone.

"It is an aggravating feature that it was found in a semi public place, a hotel room.

"But I accept it was not loaded at the time and you were not going to use it yourself ,but to hand it on to others."

Please note - all court copies are provided by South Beds News Agency, who retain the copyright for all articles published.