Exclusive:Tearful woman begs parents to look after her dog as she is jailed for role in Sheffield gun gang operation
The judge said he was giving the ‘most merciful’ sentence he could
A tearful woman begged her parents to look after her dog as she was sent to prison over her involvement with a Sheffield gun gang operation.
Emma Jelly issued her plea as she cried in the dock of Sheffield Crown Court after discovering her fate.
The 38-year-old was charged with conspiracy to manufacture a firearm after a lengthy police investigation that has already seen 12 others jailed for a combined total of 150 years.
She denied the charges but was found guilty after a trial.
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Judge Charles Thomas broke down the details of the case, explaining that jurors had deemed Jelly responsible for storing weapons in her flat.
She was arrested in the summer of 2023, when police raided her home and found slides and magazines for 47 blank firing weapons.
The court was told that at the time she was in an abusive relationship with a man who coerced her into getting involved with the criminal operation.
Judge Thomas said Jelly’s was ‘undoubtedly a lesser role’ and explained that she suffers with a number of health issues.
Abuse she experienced in her younger years had impacted her life, the court heard.
“It is clear that those events have had a significant effect on you throughout your adult life,” the judge said.
Jelly’s offences could have attracted a sentence of up to 13 years, but the judge ruled she poses “no risk to the public.”
“There is frankly, in my judgement, no risk of further offending by you,” he added as he jailed her for two and a half years.
“That in my judgement is the most merciful sentence I can arrive at while still fulfilling my public duty,” Judge Thomas said, as Jelly began to sob.
As she was led to custody, she called to her parents in the public gallery pleading “look after [my dog] mam’.”
Between March and July 2023, police executed a series of raids across Sheffield, uncovering what was described as one of the UK's largest blank firing weapon conversion operations.
Conversion factories, which turn legal blank firing weapons like air guns into deadly firearms, were raided in Darnall, Castlebeck, Richmond and Beighton.
In total, they recovered 108 blank firing weapons in various stages of conversion, as well as blank firing ammunition which had been converted into viable ammunition.
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In March, 10 people were jailed for conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and conspiracy to manufacture, sell or transfer ammunition in relation to the same investigation:
- Zakaria West, 30, of Tithe Barn Way, Sheffield, was jailed for 16 years
- Arron Ward, 31, of Smelter Wood Crescent, Sheffield, was jailed for 16 years
- Andrew Loton, 36, of Bramshill Close, Sheffield, was jailed for 12 years and 10 months
- Danny Milner, 41, of Gresley Walk, Sheffield, was jailed for 18 years
- Antonio Lewis, 28, of Roundhay Gardens, Leeds, was jailed for 17 years
- Paul Dungworth, 37, of Ridgeway Crescent, Sheffield, was jailed for 11 years and six months
- Ashley Gregory, 36, of Danewood Avenue, Sheffield, was jailed for 11 years and eight months
- Joshua Drury, of Highwoods Road, Doncaster, was jailed for 11 years
- Ashley Stevenson, 22, of Spa Well Crescent, Rotherham, was jailed for nine years
- Delroy Riley, 46, of Richmond Hall Avenue, Sheffield, was jailed for 13 years
Two people had previously been found guilty of three counts of possessing a prohibited weapon and one charge of possessing ammunition in relation to the investigation:
- Shera Virk, 24, of Golf Lane, Leamington Spa, was jailed for nine years
- Joseph Steele, 34, of Brewery Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, was jailed for eight years
Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Iain Martin said after the previous sentencings: "There is no place for the sort of mindless violence gun crime causes in our communities. We will not tolerate gun crime in South Yorkshire.
"This investigation has resulted in a significant number of weapons seized. It is highly likely that these firearms would have got into the hands of violent criminals putting innocent members of the public at risk of harm.
"Converted blank firing weapons make up a large proportion of firearms discharges in South Yorkshire and this investigation forms part of our ongoing relentless approach to tackling firearm enabled criminality."