As South Yorkshire Police work to take firearms off our streets, pictured here are the gunmen who have been jailed for their part in such criminality between January and October 2024.
The force set up an armed crime team back in 2020 in response to what was described as a 'notable increase' in shootings taking place in South Yorkshire.
Possession of a firearm carries a minimum mandatory sentence of five years.
Each of the defendants have been jailed during hearings held at Sheffield Crown Court throughout 2024, after being convicted of offences relating to gun crime.
To report a crime, call South Yorkshire Polioce on 101.
Call 999 in an emergency.
Possession of a firearm carries a minimum mandatory sentence of five years.
5. Hassan Mohammad: Sheffield dealer caught red handed with loaded gun & drugs just days after last sentence ended
A Sheffield drug dealer whose criminality escalated to carrying a firearm and ammunition a matter of weeks after being released from the licence period of his prison sentence is back behind bars after failing to ‘learn his lesson’. “The gravity of gun crime cannot be exaggerated. Guns kill, maim, terrorise and intimidate. That’s why criminals like you want them,” Judge Sarah Wright told defendant, Hassan Mohammad. She continued: “That is why they use them and organise their manufacture, supply and distribution. Sentencing courts must address the fact that too many lethal weapons are carried, used and distributed. Too many are used with an insidious and corrosive impact on the wellbeing of the local community.” Sheffield Crown Court heard how Mohammad’s licence from a three year, three month prison sentence for other offences relating to dealing crack cocaine and heroin had expired just a month before the 23-year-old was ‘caught red-handed’ with firearms, ammunition, a knife and Class A drugs, during a police search carried out on Exeter Drive, Broomhall, Sheffield, on January 24, 2024. Mohammad was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, a string of offences including: possessing a prohibited weapon, namely a converted blank firearm; possessing ammunition for a firearm without a certificate; possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, namely crack cocaine and heroin, with intent to supply; possession of a knife in a public place and acquiring/using/possessing criminal property, namely £375 in cash. Judge Wright jailed Mohammad for 11 years, and told the court that confiscation proceedings will take place in September 2024. | SYP
6. Ikhlaas Hussain, Mohammed Meah & Adil Hussain: Three men jailed after shotgun found wrapped in a rug by Sheffield firearms officers
Three men involved in the movement of a shotgun wrapped in a rug through Sheffield have been jailed after a police sting. As part of the operation, firearms officers spotted a rug, in which the shotgun had been concealed, being picked up in a taxi near Ironside Place, Gleadless Valley, Sheffield, between April 27 and 28, 2023. Ikhlaas Hussain, aged 24, of Station Road, Darnall, Sheffield, was identified as being in the vehicle. The rug and shotgun were later moved from the taxi into a waiting Volkswagen T-Roc. Mohammed Meah, 35, of Wilfred Drive, Darnall, Sheffield, and Adil Hussain, 30, of Duchy Avenue, Bradford, were inside the VW. The vehicle was stopped with both Meah and Adil Hussain attempted to flee from officers. Both were quickly detained and taken into custody. Ikhlaas Hussain was later arrested on May 5, 2023, after officers raided his home. All three men pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in public at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday, January 29, 2024. Meah and Ikhlaas Hussain also pleaded guilty to possession of the Class B drug, cannabis. During her remarks at sentencing, Judge Sarah Wright said "the gravity of gun crime cannot be exaggerated", adding that "guns cause untold harm and devastation". She sentenced Meah to one year and 10 months in prison; Ikhlaas Hussain received a sentence of two years and two months in prison; and Adil Hussain was jailed for one year and 11 months. Ikhlaas Hussain (left), Mohammed Meah (centre), and Adil Hussain (right) have been jailed for a total of almost six years | SYP
7. Xavier Curtis: Sheffield man brandished gun at cops, shouting 'people like you, I shoot them for fun'
A Sheffield man brandished a dangerous firearm at police officers and claimed he shoots people like them 'for fun'. Sheffield Crown Court heard how the remark came after defendant, Xavier Curtis, aged 23, was in the process of being arrested after being found to be in possession of a firearm. A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson revealed how, as he was being detained, Curtis shouted at the officers: "You know people like you, I shoot them for fun." Upon a further search of Curtis, a quantity of Class A drugs and several rounds of ammunition were also found. Curtis, of Oxford Street, Walkley, Sheffield, was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, charges of possession with intent to supply a controlled Class A drug, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. During a Sheffield Crown Court hearing held on Friday, February 16, 2024, Curtis was jailed for six years. | SYP
8. Jahmaine Watson: Member of gang responsible for 'inflicting terror & misery' snared after his DNA is found on stashed gun
A South Yorkshire gang member who received his first conviction relating to firearms when he was just 14-years-old has been sent back to prison after his DNA was found on a converted revolver. The judge, Recorder Adrian Langdale KC, told Sheffield Crown Court that defendant, Jahmaine Watson, had been ‘entrenched’ in a ‘criminal lifestyle’ and gang culture, after becoming a member of the ‘Pitsmoor Shotta Boys’ (PSB) organised crime group at a young age. Watson’s most recent conviction for possessing both a prohibited firearm, and ammunition without a certificate, came after South Yorkshire Police raided a property on Wiltshire Avenue in Denaby, near Doncaster. Eddison Flint, prosecuting, said officers recovered two weapons, along with 100 grams of cocaine, all of which had been stashed in a cupboard. Mr Flint told a hearing held on January 4, 2024 that Watson’s DNA was found on the trigger and grip of one of the recovered firearms, an Ekol firing revolver that had been adapted into a ‘viable firearm,’ as well as in the magazine of the weapon which had been loaded with one bullet. Mr Flint told the court that 34-year-old Watson has a criminal record spanning 28 offences from 11 convictions, which includes previous firearm convictions, including an entry for possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, dating back to 2004 when he was just 14-years-old. Watson, who also has convictions relating to drug dealing, was subsequently jailed for three years in 2016 for conspiracy to possess a firearm. Watson later pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing ammunition without a certificate during a hearing at the same court, and Recorder Langdale said Watson’s guilty pleas indicate he has moved away from the account he initially gave to police in his prepared statement. Recorder Langdale jailed Watson for seven years, two months, and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the firearm and amunition. | SYP