Two loaded pistols thrown from dangerous driver's car during high-speed police chase in Sheffield
Two loaded pistols were thrown from a car travelling during a high-speed police chase through Sheffield.
Earl Treasure, who was fleeing from armed cops when he discarded the guns, claims to have found the two converted Carlos KS-01 pistols while he was out walking his dog.
Firearms officers travelling in an unmarked vehicle in the Stocksbridge area of the city were on their way to Treasure’s home to “search him” when they saw his vehicle on Manchester Road, prosecutor Christopher Dunn told Sheffield Crown Court.
Mr Dunn said the officers immediately activated their lights and sirens, and indicated for Treasure to pull over.
But instead of complying, Treasure embarked on a stint of dangerous driving, during which he crashed into street furniture, ran red lights, drove the wrong way up Fox Valley Way, before driving in the centre of the road and attempting to weave through oncoming traffic.
Mr Dunn said the two pistols were thrown out of the car as it travelled at high speed, and a short time later Treasure pulled over to allow his two passengers to get out.
Jailing Treasure for seven years, Recorder Anthony Kelbrick told him: “You decided to set off with those weapons and your passengers in the vehicle, in a prolonged, high-speed chase…during the course of that chase you decided you would dispose of those weapons and either you or one of your passengers threw the bag containing them out of the window.
“Shortly after that, your passengers decamped from your vehicle. Whether you were allowing them to go back and recover the weapons, I do not know.
“However, throwing weapons of that kind out of a window into the public domain - as it were - is asking for trouble.”
The firearms thrown from the car were seized by police during the course of the pursuit.
Recorder Kelbrick said he did not know what intelligence the firearms officers who were heading to Treasure’s property prior to the pursuit were acting on, but suggested their actions meant Treasure must have been in possession of the weapons for some time.
He said: “This is not a case - in my judgement - where you could properly argue you had found those weapons very shortly before you were stopped by the police.”
“It must have been obvious to you that you were being pursued by police, and there would have been no reason [for you not to stop] - had you come by these weapons totally innocently. Or had you given them to the police or disposed of them safely...But you didn’t.”
When the guns were recovered by police following the chase, which took place on June 13, 2024, they were both loaded with multiple bullets, with one of the pistols containing seven nine millimetre rounds within its magazine, and eight within the other.
“They were tested and fired and were found to be proper working firearms,” Mr Dunn, prosecuting, told the court.
Treasure’s DNA was found in a number of areas on both firearms, the court heard.
The pursuit came to an end when Treasure began travelling at a slower speed due to damage caused to his vehicle earlier in the chase, and he was subsequently arrested.
Mr Dunn said Treasure, aged 46, exercised his right to silence during the course of his police interviews, and subsequently provided defence statements in which he claimed his DNA must have got on the firearms by “secondary transference” or been “planted there by the police.”
Recorder Kelbrick said he had judged Treasure’s claims concerning his DNA to be “fatuous.”
Treasure later pleaded guilty to all five charges he faced - two counts of possessing prohibited firearms, two counts of possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate and one count of dangerous driving.
Defending, Khadim Al-Hassan said Treasure, of no fixed abode, now accepts that he knew the firearms were in the car, did not know what to do and was concerned about his passengers getting brought into the situation.
“He’s deeply remorseful,” continued Mr Al-Hassan.
He told the court that Treasure had spent the previous 211 days in custody on remand, adding that the last three weeks had been “extremely difficult” because his father had passed away, and his mother had suffered a stroke.
Treasure, continued Mr Al-Hassan, is a father to five children aged between 10 and 23, and had been attempting to get his life back together following convictions, some of which relate to drug offences.
Mr Al-Hassan said Treasure had been working to help people through efforts with boxing and a local community centre while he was at liberty; and has continued trying to help people during his time in custody - resulting in him earning the status of enhanced prisoner.
Possession of a prohibited firearm carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, unless a judge deems there to be exceptional circumstances.
Sending Treasure to begin his seven-year stint behind bars, Recorder Kelbrick told him: “I’m entirely satisfied there are no exceptional circumstances that can be found in this particular case.”
“I’m to sentence you on the basis that you did find them [the firearms].
“It’s unlikely they would have been lying about in a box for a dog walker such as you to find. They most likely would have been hidden…we will never know how you came about them. Whether that’s by chance, or you knew where they were. But I have to sentence you on the basis it was by chance.”
Treasure was also handed a seven year driving ban, with an extension of three-and-a-half years to reflect the amount of time he is likely to spend behind bars, bringing the total length to 11 years, six months.