Model is jailed for gun in pants

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Model is jailed for gun in pants

A male model from Putney caught with a loaded gun in his underpants has been jailed for five years.
Reading Crown Court heard James Okech-Banya, 23, of Carslake Road, concealed the weapon down his trousers after armed police pulled over a BMW in which he was a passenger.

Prosecuting, John Simmons said: "Police searched the occupants of the vehicle and this defendant seemed extremely nervous. He was asked if he had any objects on him that he shouldn't have.

"As a police officer searched his groin area he found a hard object."

The officer asked him what it was and he said it was part of his anatomy. The officer reached into the defendant's underpants and found a loaded weapon wrapped in a black cloth.

Okech-Banya was arrested and taken to the police station on August 25 this year. He admitted possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition.

Defending, Richard Jones said Okech-Banya was only looking after the gun for someone else. He said DNA evidence showed many people had touched the weapon.

He said: "My client was born in Uganda and is an only child. He came to the United Kingdom when he was four years old with his mother and grandmother to escape conflict in that part of Africa. He never knew his father and his mother died when he was seven.

"He has worked as a male model and has had small parts in television and in films. He is now in a stable relationship with a woman who is expecting his child. She suffers from Gilbert's Syndrome and as such he knows her life too could be cut short at any time."
Mr Jones said the baby suffers from a malformation and will probably die during delivery.

Jailing him on Thursday, December 1, Judge Charles Elly said he had sympathy with the defendant, but was not able to reduce the sentence recommended by Parliament.

He said: "You were searched and in the course of that search a weapon was found wrapped in a black cloth in your underpants. It was originally a blank firing pistol but it had been modified to fire bullets.

"I accept you have had a difficult childhood. I recognise the sadness in your life but I do not think it justifies me in lowering the minimum sentence fixed by Parliament for this offence."

http://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.659359.0.model_is_jailed_for_gun_in_pants.php
 
"As a police officer searched his groin area he found a hard object."

The officer asked him what it was and he said it was part of his anatomy. The officer reached into the defendant's underpants and found a loaded weapon wrapped in a black cloth.
Now that takes...guts. :shock:
 
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