A mother-of-five kept a fully-automatic AK47 Kalashnikov assault rifle and ammunition in a gym bag in her unlocked bedroom, which was designed to discharge 27 bullets with one touch of the trigger.

Hackney Gazette: The AK47 Kalashnikov assault rifleThe AK47 Kalashnikov assault rifle (Image: Archant)

Katrina Jordon, 32, also had nine pistol bullets stored in the same bag together with 27 rounds for the machine gun, which was dubbed a “fully-functioning killing machine” by Judge Caroline Atkinson.

She was told she could not use the claim she had been threatened to reduce her sentence as she was jailed for six years on Thursday.

Police raided her home at Birchwood Apartments, Woodberry Grove, Hackney, on January 14 this year, and she eventually told them where the bag was, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

She claimed she had been pressured into holding the bag for five gang members who had threatened her and her children.

Jordon – who has no previous convictions – later pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition at a preliminary hearing, saying she had the gun for about three weeks.

Judge Atkinson ruled that despite the threats, there were no “exceptional circumstances” in the case that could reduce Jordan’s sentence.

She said: “It is said that there is a real possibility that people looking to hide firearms would target people that might excite the sympathy of the court if that was to be the case.

“Those who provide a safe

hiding place for weapons like these make a significant and distinctive contribution to the use of firearms on the streets and elsewhere.

“They do so at their peril – where is the sympathy to the mother of the child or husband killed by the use of these lethal weapons? That is why these sentences are so high.

‘This was not locked away, it was within reach, you were caught red handed.”

Jordan showed no trace of reaction as her sentence announced.

Two of her eldest children were seated in the public gallery as she was led away.