A man and a woman have been jailed after a machine gun with 26 rounds of ammunition was found hidden in a rucksack at a house.

Officers from the Met Police raided a home in Gladstone Parade in Cricklewood at 6am on January 31 of this year.

A 'Spray and Pray' Mac 10 pistol and ammunition was found hidden behind a wardrobe in a rucksack which also contained a self-loading pistol as well as 11 bullet cartridges.

Spray and Pray guns are popular with gangsters because they do not require a lot of training to be used and a number of shots can be fired in short bursts.

Bobbie Gordon, 22, of Gladstone Parade, Cricklewood, was arrested at her home, after evidence was found linking her to the address where the gun was found. 

Sasha Langley, 32, of Anglian Close, Watford, was arrested later the same day.

The Mac 10 machine pistol was examined in the Met’s forensic laboratory and was found to be a converted weapon.

Hillingdon Times:

The Mac 10 'Spray and Pray' pistol that was seized 

The pistol had a selector switch enabling the gun to be fired in either semi-automatic mode or fully automatic mode, however it was established this did not work and the gun fired in fully automatic mode whatever position the switch was in.

Gordon and Langley were both charged with two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon and two counts of possessing ammunition without a certificate.

Langley pleaded guilty to all charges on June 25 at Harrow Crown Court. Gordon pleaded guilty to all charges the next day.

At Harrow Crown Court on July 5, Langley was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison.

Gordon was sentenced to four years imprisonment.

Detective Constable Neil Kember, of the Met’s Trident and Area Crime Command, said: “Two extremely dangerous guns have been taken off the streets of London as a result of this proactive investigation.

“The significant prison sentences handed to these defendants should act as a warning to anyone who is in possession of an illegal gun or involved in the storage of them. Even if you have only been asked to look after the weapon, if it is found in your address you will be arrested and prosecuted.”