Men jailed over prohibited firearm

Two men have been jailed after being convicted of possessing a prohibited firearm following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

Zachariah Talbert Young, 26, of Carlyle Road, Easton, Bristol, and Paul Elijah Hayden, 21, of Reade Close, Hanham, had both denied the charge, but were found guilty by a jury on Friday 13 September.

Today, Friday 4 October, they begin prison sentences of five and a half years and five years respectively.

Sentencing, the Recorder, Mr Tom Brown KC, said he took into account Hayden’s age at the time – he was 18 – and lack of previous convictions, adding that both men will serve half their sentences before being released on licence.

During the trial, the court heard that on Tuesday 5 October 2021 police had a number of calls reporting sightings of people armed with a gun and a knife in Easton, Bristol.

A man called 999 at about 9.45pm and described meeting a group of people earlier that he thought had a gun.

Officers attended and began to search the area. Three men made off from them and one ran down an alleyway off Chaplin Road.

Just after 11pm officers found a bag containing a handgun in the alleyway, near to an electricity substation.

The gun was examined and found to be a 9mm Parabellum self-loading pistol. It is a prohibited weapon both because it has a barrel length of less than 30cm and a total length of less than 60cm and because it is self-loading. This means it would be unlawful to possess in it any circumstances.

It was loaded with four rounds of ammunition and had been made ready to fire.

Forensic tests of the weapon recovered DNA of both Hayden and Talbert Young from the grip. Talbert Young’s DNA was also found on the working parts of the gun as well as on the bag it was found in. The court heard this evidence showed that both men had touched and held the pistol.

Detectives carried out 22 months of detailed enquiries, including trawling CCTV and examining mobile phone data, to prove that both men were in the Easton area that night and in possession of the gun.

Detective Inspector Jason Chidgey led the investigation and said: “Thankfully gun crime is a rarity in the UK. It’s all the more shocking that two young men were able to get hold of a banned weapon like this. Hayden was 18 and Talbert Young 23 at the time.

“Bristol is a safer place with this weapon and these people off our streets.”