A convicted cocaine dealer released from jail is back behind bars after hiding a revolver under his girlfriend's mattress.
Aaron Green said he "tried to keep his head down" and stay out of trouble after serving two prison sentences for drug dealing.
He had been locked up for his part in a crack cocaine and heroin ring, then for stashing £24,000 of cocaine down his underpants.
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But after being released on licence, the 30-year-old said he was told he owed a debt and had to repay it by looking after the gun.
Liverpool Crown Court was told undercover police were secretly watching Green's partner's home in Flamstead, Skelmersdale, on Friday, December 17 last year.
Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, said: "At lunchtime officers saw a car arrive in the cul-de-sac and a female emerged from the area of the house, carrying a bag.
"She disappeared for a few seconds and then reappeared without the bag. The crown say she had visited the house. The car then drove away."
Minutes later, the car was stopped by officers, who discovered a "hydraulic concealment" under a back seat, containing several plastic bags of white powder.
Mr Hopkins said the powder was not controlled drugs but a substance "capable of being used as adulterant".
Police then searched Green's girlfriend's home, where Mr Hopkins said they "found three bundles, which contained Bank of England notes, approximately £15,000, and a silver handgun underneath the mattress in a bedroom - the same place as where the cash was".
He said the firearm was described as "a silver coloured revolver with a six shot cylinder" which had "no visible serial numbers or markings" and was later successfully test fired, with .44 calibre ammunition.
A report from the National Ballistics Intelligence Service said the gun was not known to have been fired in any reported shootings.
Mr Hopkins said: "The defendant was interviewed. He said he had been asked to store that weapon following his previous conviction and that's why it was in the house. He thought that the powder which had been seized was going to be 'bash', that's to say a mix for controlled drugs."
Green, of Eavesdale, Skelmersdale, admitted possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing a firearm when prohibited from doing so due to a past jail term.
The court heard he has 10 previous convictions for 17 offences.
At the age of 24, he was part of a gang of drug dealers operating in Skelmersdale who were locked up in December 2015.
Green admitted conspiring to supply crack cocaine and heroin, and supplying cannabis and possessing cannabis with intent to supply, and was jailed for four years and nine months.
After serving that sentence, police stopped the then 27-year-old in a speeding Audi on the M6 near Southwaite, in Cumbria, in September 2018.
He swore when told he would be strip searched, then confessed "there's stuff down there" - meaning 246g of high purity cocaine in his underwear.
Green, who admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply in December 2018, was jailed for five years.
Charles Lander, defending, said Green had no previous convictions for firearms and "importantly the weapon was not loaded".
He said his client was released from prison in March 2021 and "tried to keep his head down and tried to keep away from former associates".
Mr Lander said Green had been acting as a father figure for his girlfriend's child.
He said Green had since been recalled to prison on licence and knew "it is only his fault".
The lawyer said Green was told he owed a debt as a result of the drugs seized from him by police in 2018 and looking after the gun was a "repayment".
The judge, Recorder Michael Blakey, said Green was not to be sentenced over the white powder or cash, as he had not been charged in relation to them.
But he said the revolver was capable of firing six shots, the serial numbers or markings clearly "had been scratched off", and it was a weapon "designed for killing two or more people at the same time or in rapid succession".
Turning to his mitigation, Recorder Blakey said: "Your role was to look after that particular weapon. You had not long been released from prison. You tried to remain out of trouble...
"Your intention presumably was to try and behave and stay trouble free in the community. But as you say, trouble found you and you regrettably allowed yourself to be part of it."
The judge said aggravating features of the case included his previous convictions, adding: "Also there is a suspicion that a gun, powder and cash found indicates further criminality."
He said he would have jailed Green for eight years, but reduced his sentence by one third to reflect his early guilty plea.
Recorder Blakey locked him up for five years and four months.
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