Hoxton man, 24, gets six year sentence for converted starter pistol in airing cupboard

Kennedy Mwesezi was jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court for possession of a firearm and ammunition.

A Hoxton man was locked up for six years on Friday for keeping a converted starter pistol at his home with two rounds of bullets inside ready to be fired.

Kennedy Mwesezi, 24, of Wenlock Street, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court after being found guilty of possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The gun was found by neighbourhood officers taking part in a drugs search on his flat last June.

They discovered the illegal revolver, which had been adapted to fire real bullets, in a small cupboard above the airing cupboard, with two rounds of ammunition in the chamber and a carrier bag containing two further bullets.

Det Con John Farrell from Operation Bantam, Hackney’s drugs and gun crime squad, said: “I would like to thank Hoxton safer Neighbourhoods team for the thorough search they made of Mwesezi’s address.

“This is a very long sentence and I sincerely hope that it will make others think twice about obtaining any form of illegal weapons.”