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Gun crime victim calls for tougher sentences
11:51am Wednesday 26th March 2008
A VICTIM is calling for tougher gun crime sentences in East Lancashire.
He echoed calls from Merseyside chief constable Bernard Hogan-Howe who yesterday accused some judges of being lenient on gun crime by overlooking mandatory five-year sentences for possession of a firearm.
Alan Holden of Dill Hall Lane Post Office, Church, spoke out after it was revealed that less than 40 per cent of offenders receive the minimum sentence for the crime.
The latest available figures, which are from 2005, also reveal an average sentence of just 47 months, leading to calls for tougher sentences from the Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.
The post office in Church, was targeted by a masked gunman in February last year.
Mr Holden said: "I agree that sentences should be tougher because anybody who uses a gun is a potential murderer.
"My own personal view is that they wouldn't have one if they didn't intend to use it. They should be punished as someone who intended to kill - there is no more serious crime than that.
"Tougher sentences would deter gun crime and make sure postal staff are less likely to be affected by armed robberies."
So far this year a gun was fired outside a Blackburn pub on March 19, and PC Katie Johnson was injured as she tried to tackle armed robbers at a pub in Bamber Bridge in January.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "We have decided not to comment on this issue while the chief constable is away on leave."
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PC, Merseyside says...
7:39pm Wed 26 Mar 08
Ilyas is without a firearms certificate.(if he had acertificate would it cover a Kalashnikov AK-47)It was found in a drawer alongside cans of gun oil.So if the gun has been fired or not he should be sentenced, And was the gun going to be used in the future (were plans made?Hm mm now the police must of been tipped off and they got what they were looking for by the sounds of it,So why is Nadeem Ilyas suspended and not sacked hmm is that with pay from the Councils neighbourhoods department,Oh Yeah innocent till proved guilty
The gun has been sent away for examination by ballistics experts,Makes you stop and think the sort of people the Council has working for them,Merseyside chief constable Bernard Hogan-Howe yes idiots like this should be locked up its passed a Joke