A woman from Mitcham in South West London has been arrested, after officers found a Kalashnikov assault riffle and 4000 rounds of ammo in her bedroom.
Concealed within a soil pipe in a cupboard in her room, Lynn Tetteh, 24, has pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition. She has however denied any knowledge of what was inside the package.
Tetteh, who works as a receptionist, said her boyfriend had asked her to store the package at her home while he was moving house.
Judge Nic Madge told her at London Crown Court that he had no choice but to impose the minimum sentence of five years in prison.
He said, ““Regrettably the experience of this court is that it is all too common for men of violence to use the premises of women of previous good character to store their weapons in the hope that, because of their character, no one will suspect them.”
When detectives raided her home in April, they found the assault rifle and 412 cartridges of ammunition, as well as three magazines.
Detective Constable Martin Reader, said, “Anyone who is or is thinking about storing a gun, or helping to hide them from the police, are directly contributing to gun crime and the devastating affect it has on communities and families. You also run the real risk that you will be arrested and face a significant term of imprisonment.
“I urge anyone with information about gun crime to contact the police or Crimestoppers anonymously,” he added.