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Men jailed after sniper rifle found in back of minicab in South Croydon
Croydon Toda ^ | 9 Oct 2012 | GarethD2011

Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2012 11:28:15 PM by smokingfrog

FIVE men have been jailed after a sniper rifle was found in the boot of a minicab in South Croydon.

Tyron Harding, 45, sold the .22 bolt-action rifle and hollow-point ammunition - designed to cause maximum injury - to his fellow defendants on November 1 last year.

Armed police officers stopped Loyan Osman, 25, soon afterwards as he travelled along Brighton Road, South Croydon, in a minicab. In his possession he had 57 rounds of ammunition.

When officers searched the boot of the vehicle they found the rifle with a sniper scope and silencer attached. It was loaded with a bullet in the breach and more in a magazine.

Osman, Anthony Hosey, 28, Khadar Mire, 25, and Nathaniel Tracey, 27, had been watched by officers as they travelled from Lambeth in Mire's BMW to buy the weapon and ammunition from Harding.

As Osman travelled back to Lambeth in the minicab his colleagues followed in the BMW.

Officers arrested Osman after stopping the cab and subsequently detained Hosey, More and Tracey following further investigation.

On December 12, officers searched Harding's girlfriend's house in Huddlestone Crescent, Merstham, which was close to the location where the weapon was purchased.

In the loft they found another .22 bolt-action rifle with a telescopic sight and silencer. Three boxes of hollow-point ammunition, containing 62 rounds, were also recovered. Harding was arrested as he returned home.

Detective Sergeant Phil Holt, of the Met's Trident Gang Crime Command, said: "These men were found in possession of the kind of lethal weaponry that is typically associated with the most dangerous of criminals.

They'd probably pee themself if they saw what I have at home and carry around most of the time. 22 sniper rifle

These guys could have really been a menace to the local squirrel population. I shudder to think how many conies these men could have killed. Oh wait, they only had 122 rounds, so that's like a hell of a bunch of conies.

Where is this story posted?

The freedom in the US of A would put them into a PANIC.

London?

I know nothing of this particular situation, but I bet there is a 'rest of the story'. I'm guessing that because surveillance and specialized l.e. units were involved that these guys were perhaps up to no good. I believe the unit mentioned here specifically targets organized crime groups involved in illegal arms sales (by their standards in that country).

I doubt that this was just a couple of good ol' boys going down the road to shoot tincans with a trusty .22.

I'm certainly not going to tell England how they run their country and what laws they do or don't have (and I don't want them telling us either).

I it pick off www.freerepublic.com

Give Obama 4 more years and a coupla more appointments to the Supreme court and you'll be seeing this story coming out of Wyoming, or perhaps Texas.

For this story to make sense you need to remember that the average Brit is rather feminine. The police and averag fellow knows more about tampons then firearms.
The best discription is 'Sheeple'.

Jim

You can do a google on the names mentioned in the first article. Maybe these guys showed up on the cop radar being involved in violent gang activity? And illegal gun transactions (by their country's laws) is what they could get them on? I hardly think that it's just by chance that surveillance was being conducted. Just guessing here, but I bet there had been some bloodshed and some of these guys were linked to it.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news...action=gallery&ino=4

I seem to recall that the only thing Al Capone could be incarcerated for was income tax issues.

There guys were hardcore, convicted felons, out on parole. I suspect they were not on their way to hunt rabbits. In the US, each of these guys would of been facing Manditor Minimum Sentences of 5 years for the rifle, 5 years for the silencer, and 5 years for the ammunition. They would be subject to this for each time these items were posessed, transported, or transfered. 45+ years, and that's just the minimums. Here's a story detailing their records:


A convicted robber who worships movie gangster Tony Montana has been jailed for 15 years for buying a sniper rifle and silencer while released on licence.



Nathaniel Tracey, 27, travelled to Reigate with three other men to buy the .22 rifle, fitted with a silencer and 62 rounds of ammunition for just for just £600.

Tracey had been jailed for seven years in 2007 for a string of meat cleaver robberies in Streatham, including one where a surgeon was savagely beaten when he did not hand his laptop.

The thug, who wrote rap lyrics about his criminal exploits, idolised Al Pacino’s gangster Tony Montana and wore a Scarface jacket.

While out on licence Tracey, with Anthony Hosey, 28 Loyan Osman, 26 and Khadar Mire, 25, travelled to Redhill, Surrey to buy the Czechoslovakian sniper rifle from traveller Tyron Harding.

Gun dealer Harding, 45, was also on licence after serving 12 years for breaking into a pub in Epsom and tying up the landlord before making off with £1500.

Prosecutor Robert Ellison said the gang were under police surveillance and were arrested after they collected the gun in November last year.

When the gun was examined DNA from Osman and Harding were found on it.

Organisers Hosey, of Camberwell, and Mire, of Catford, were jailed for 16 years for trying to buy the gun, while Tracey, of Brixton, was sentenced to 15 years, and Osman, of Bermondsey, was locked up for 14 years.

Harding, of Mitcham, was caged for 11 years for selling them the weapon.

Passing sentence Judge Michael Topolski, QC, told the men: “The facts of this case are serious and disturbing.

“Your intentions were potentially of the upmost gravity and it is fortunate that the police stopped you when they did."

quote:

Originally posted by arkypete:
For this story to make sense you need to remember that the average Brit is rather feminine. The police and averag fellow knows more about tampons then firearms.
The best discription is 'Sheeple'.

Jim

Golly Moses! That Judge just really verbally spanked them didn't he? They should be let out of jail early for that verbal abuse; and probably will in Jolly Olde England.

AS how do you dig all this stuff up. I wonder after talking to me do you know where I was in 89 or would you rather not.

British press had some pretty good coverage of these holligans.

quote:

For this story to make sense you need to remember that the average Brit is rather feminine. The police and averag fellow knows more about tampons then firearms.

Thats goes along with my idea that they are in such trouble because they loss huge amount of there real men in the frist and second world wars.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Edwards:
Give Obama 4 more years and a coupla more appointments to the Supreme court and you'll be seeing this story coming out of Wyoming, or perhaps Texas.

Naw, we will secede before that happens. You guys are on your own.

I joke about it, but nothing would surprise me now.