Former Sheffield soldier was found with shotgun after it had been stolen from a gunsmith’s shop
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Sheffield Crown Court heard on March 12 how Keith Walker, aged 45, of Walkley Street, Walkley, Sheffield, had been taken to a police station after a domestic incident and he told officers he had a gun in his shed.
Richard Sheldon, prosecuting, said: “There was a domestic incident and the defendant was taken to a police station and he told officers a gun was stored in a shed at his home and police recovered a sawn-off shotgun in good working order with no cartridges.”
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Hide AdMr Sheldon added there had been a burglary at a gunsmith’s shop in Sheffield in April, 2020, and a lot of weapons had been stolen.
He said: “Numerous weapons were taken including a shotgun and that weapon found its way into his possession and was later shortened in his garden.”
Walker said people gave him the gun to store, according to Mr Sheldon, and he was scared of those people.
The defendant pleaded guilty to possessing a shotgun without a certificate after it was recovered in August, 2020.
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Hide AdFrancis Edusei, defending, said Walker has not been in trouble for a significant period and he had been afraid of those who were bullying him.
Mr Edusei added Walker is a former soldier who served in Sarajevo in the 1990s and he has been left with a post traumatic stress disorder.
Judge Roger Thomas QC said: “In April, last year, there was a burglary at a gunsmith’s and a lot of weapons were stolen and one was a double-barrelled shotgun and very quickly after the burglary – in days – that weapon arrived at your house – not brought by you personally – but by someone else.”
He added whoever shortened the gun must have been criminally-minded because it was done to a length that would not attract a more serious charge.
Judge Thomas sentenced Walker to 30 months of custody.
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Hide AdPolice previously revealed Hardy’s Gunsmiths, on Alderson Road, Highfield, Sheffield, was burgled on April 3, 2020, and a number of firearms were stolen.