Three men jailed at Croydon Crown Court for firearm offences

The shortened rifle found in a holdall during a pre-planned police operation    Pic: Met Police

Three men were jailed at Croydon Crown Court yesterday (March 9) for a total of 28 years after being charged with firearm offences.

At a previous hearing last month Jake Hill, Jordan Miranda and Marcus Benjamin-Williamson all pleading guilty to various firearm charges.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of July 28 when a shortened rifle was recovered from a vehicle following a police operation in Norbury.

Hill, 26, had travelled to Norbury station in south-west London and got in to the front passenger seat of a blue Ford Focus waiting nearby.

Detectives at the Metropolitan Police’s Trident and Area Crime Command team had already been observing Hill’s whereabouts at the time of the incident. Miranda, 22,  was identified to be the driver of the vehicle.

Hill was spotted exiting the car clutching a large blue holdall. He was then stopped by armed officers and searched at 3.55pm as he walked back towards the station.

When police questioned Hill about what was in the holdall he replied: “I don’t know. A friend asked me to pick it up, I don’t know what’s in it,” according to a statement. Police searched the bag and found the shortened rifle.

Hill was later arrested for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. After pleading guilty to purchasing the firearm, he was sentenced to seven years and two months in jail.

Miranda pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a firearm and ammunition and was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

After further investigations, the third man jailed, Benjamin-Williamson, 28, was found to have organised the firearms sale and also to have absconded from jail on January 10, 2016. He also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 years in prison on the same offences as Miranda.

In response to the sentencing, Detective Constable Sarah Wykes, the investigating officer for the Trident and Area Crime Command, said: “I am pleased at the custodial sentences that have been imposed on Hill, Benjamin-Williamson and Miranda.

“You just have to read some of the tragic cases where firearms have been used to know how much of an impact they have on families and on communities as a whole.

“To those who are actively involved in the distribution and carrying of these weapons they should be aware that we are actively carrying out operations to catch offenders.”

 

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