A 23-year-old man appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Monday 10 October and has been jailed after pleading guilty to four firearm offences. Omari Sharpe, of Southmead, was arrested in August after being forensically linked to a handgun.
Avon and Somerset Police issued a statement regarding Sharpe's sentencing in court today (October 14). Police said they recovered the handgun a month before Sharpe's arrest from a vehicle on Maggs Lane in the Whitchurch area of Shropshire.
The handgun that was recovered and later discovered to belong to Sharpe, is a nine millimetre Parabellum self-loading pistol. Police said the hand gun was found along with four rounds of ammunition. An examination of the weapon suggested it had not recently been used.
READ MORE: Disabled man faces homelessness after care home funding cut
As part of the police investigation, a significant amount of CCTV footage was reviewed which also linked Sharpe to the vehicle the gun was found in.
Sharpe was sentenced for possessing a firearm, possessing ammunition for a firearm without a certificate, possessing a firearm when prohibited and possessing ammunition when prohibited at Bristol Crown Court on Monday (October 10). He was sentenced to five years and four months in prison as a result.
Detective Chief Inspector Adam Smith, of Avon and Somerset Police's Specialist Operations unit, said: “I fully appreciate how concerning incidents involving viable firearms are to our communities but I’d like reassure people they are extremely rare in Avon and Somerset.
“Tests indicate the firearm Sharpe handled had not recently been used but clearly it had the potential to cause serious harm.
“The Specialist Operations Unit, with help from all their frontline policing colleagues and partners including the National Crime Agency, are relentlessly pursuing the small number of serious and organised criminals that operate in the South West to disrupt and apprehend them."
He added: “Together, we are committed to doing everything we can to keep the public safe and will utilise all possible tactics and police powers to prevent people from coming to harm.”
READ NEXT:
Communal warm places 'on track' to launch in Bristol this month
When will the CAZ charges operate
Clean Air Zone start date finally announced
Clean Air Zone fee and how people will be charged
Bristol Clean Air Zone timeline: the story so far as start date finally announced
