Teen jailed over machinegun found hidden at a playground

 

Two gang members, one a boy aged 17, were jailed today for possessing a sub-machinegun found near a children's playground on a London estate. The Sterling 9mm weapon - capable of firing 500 rounds a minute - was discovered hidden there in a search by anti-gang officers. The weapon was once standard issue in the British Army and when tested by police was found to be in perfect working order. It has been linked to at least two shootings in London. A judge at Snaresbrook crown court lifted an anonymity order on Helah Miah, 17, as he was jailed for three years for possessing the gun and bullets. Fellow gangster Tyrell Goather, 21, was jailed for five years for possessing a weapon and ammunition. Both were convicted after pleading not guilty. Philip Johnson, 18, was given a 12-month youth rehabilitation order after he admitted possessing bullets. The trio are believed to be "younger" members of the Pembury Boys gang, which has been linked to a series of shootings and whose members were blamed for looting and disorder in the summer riots. The gang is also linked to a turf war with members of the London Fields gang, whose name was featured in the Channel 4 drama Top Boy about gangs in Hackney. The sub-machinegun was found hidden in bushes on the Pembury estate in April by two uniformed officers from the Hackney Gangs Unit, who were on cycle patrol. They saw a group of about 10 people in an area known to be a hang-out for the Pembury Boys. The group scattered when the police approached but two, Miah and Goather, were recognised. The suspicious officers searched the area and found the weapon wrapped in a plastic bag. The ammunition was found nearby with a balaclava and a knife. Detectives from the borough's Operation Bantam gun crime unit later linked the weapon to the three through DNA evidence and analysis of phones. Police believe they were left in charge of the weapon for the "older" members of the Pembury gang. Analysis of the gun found that it was linked to two non-fatal shootings in south London in 2009.