Gun owner jailed after drugs arrest (From Your Local Guardian)

Gun owner from Brixton jailed after drugs arrest

10:30am Friday 3rd February 2012 in Streatham

A drug user who was arrested after a routine stop and search exercise has been jailed for keeping an unlicensed firearm under his bed.

Adonis McQuitta, 33, was sentenced to four years in prison for possession of a shortened double-barrelled shotgun and cartridges at Inner London Crown Court on Monday, January 30.

The court heard two Lambeth police officers caught McQuitta smoking a spliff while on patrol in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, during the afternoon of October 31 last year.

He was searched and despite denying having any cannabis on him, they found a small bag of herbal cannabis.

He was arrested for possession of class B drugs and taken to Brixton police station.

Police later searched his home and found a rucksack containing a sawn-off shotgun with shotgun shells under the bed.

McQuitta, of Claudia Jones Way, Brixton, later pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm without a certificate.

Detective Inspector Sean Stewart of the Omega team said: “Thanks to the local policing team’s diligence to their duty what appeared to be an arrest for a low level crime has led to the recovery and destruction of a firearm.”