Two jailed for firearms offences after police interrupt fight

John Haining

Two men have been jailed for firearms offences after police interrupted a pre-arranged gathering in Middleton and found two guns.

John Haining, 22, of Eastern By Pass, Openshaw, was jailed for three years four months.

Douglas Ward, 22, of Darlington, County Durham, was jailed for five years four months

Both men pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm at an earlier hearing.

On Wednesday 1 June 2011, police were alerted to the potential that disorder was due to take place in the Manchester area and at 1.30pm officers went to Bowness Road, Middleton, after reports a large group of men had gathered.

Armed officers stopped 60 men and 11 of them, including Haining and Ward, were arrested.

A loaded sawn off shotgun was found on the back seat of a Vauxhall Vectra and was in a bag with some ammunition and a loaded 9mm handgun and ammunition was found underneath another a Range Rover.

CCTV later revealed that before police arrived Haining and Ward had been acting suspiciously in a compound - they walked over to a remote corner, Ward rummaged in a pile of debris, pulled out something and handed it to Haining.

Haining tucked the item in his trousers and walked over to a Vauxhall Vectra. He took the item out of his trousers and put it on the back seat of the car.

Haining and Ward can be seen on the footage walking towards a Range Rover and, at the point police move onto the compound, Ward is shown throwing something under the car.

The men tried to mingle with the crowd but were arrested and identified as the men moving the guns around from the CCTV.

When both men were searched by officers, they were found to be wearing body armour.

Detective Inspector Chris Wood, based at Greater Manchester Police's Major Incident Team, said: "Firearms and connected organised crime create fear and misery in our communities and intimidate entirely innocent people: so we are delighted that we interrupted this gathering, took these deadly weapons off the streets and those involved have faced justice.

"Greater Manchester Police has reduced firearms discharges by around 90 per cent since 2006 and it is with the support and help of the community that we have achieved this.

"However, this success does not make us complacent - we will continue to act on all credible intelligence, take weapons of the streets and put those responsible for their use before the courts."