Teenage Archway cannabis dealer jailed for possessing gun

A TEENAGER has been jailed for five years after police found a gun in his pocket when they stopped him on suspicion of possessing cannabis.

Aaron Grainge, of Bruce Glasier House, Hazellville Road, Archway, was spotted by officers from the Hillrise Safer Neighbourhoods team acting suspiciously just yards from his home on the Hornsey Lane Estate. He smelt strongly of cannabis and admitted to police that he had some of the drug, but the sharp-eyed cops noticed a bulge in his front pocket.

When questioned he said “it’s a gun”, and police pulled out a silver handgun wrapped in a bandana.

He was subsequently arrested and charged on December 18 last year, and further tests found that the 8mm blank firing pistol had been converted and was capable of firing live ammunition.

A large amount of cash and cannabis was also found at his flat.

He pleaded guilty at Blackfriars Crown Court on April 1 to possession of an imitation firearm and possession of Class B drugs with intent to supply and was sentenced to five years in jail.

Sergeant Aiden Driver from Hillrise Safer Neighbourhoods team said: “This was a good arrest by our team and as a result a dangerous weapon and a significant amount of drugs have been taken off the streets.”

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Kevin Johansen, said: “Grainge was an impressionable young man with no previous convictions who was seduced into a life of drug dealing and crime. I am pleased with his sentence and hope it sends out a message to other young people that crime does not pay.”