Steven Curry, 44, and Shakur Watson, 21, have been jailed for eleven years and thirteen years, four months, respectively, after being convicted of using an explosion likely to endanger life. Watson was also sentenced for an unrelated charge of possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two offences of supplying Class A drugs. In December 2019, Curry and Watson were recruited to set off an improvised grenade in a stolen car outside the home of a gang rival in Salford, Greater Manchester. Residents were evacuated from their homes after the car exploded. The incident was part of a longstanding feud between two groups that involved shootings and other violence. At an earlier trial, the court heard that police officers had found a Zastava M57 self-loading pistol and a magazine containing compatible ammunition in an overgrown garden adjacent to Watson’s home. Watson’s DNA was found on the gun’s handgrip. Watson was also found to have been operating a county lines drug supply chain.

After meeting to discuss the sale of a bike, one man allegedly threatened another with a suspected handgun in Liverpool, Merseyside. A man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Romello Nangle, aged 28 and from Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after admitting possession of a loaded shotgun in a public place, conspiring to pervert the course of justice and supplying a Class B drug. Nangle called an ambulance in May 2022, saying he had been in a road accident and had sustained a “big hole” in his leg. However, a nurse discovered shotgun pellets in the wound and alerted police. An investigation revealed that Nangle had accidentally shot himself. Nangle’s co-defendant, 29-year-old Harveer Narwal, who tried to help Nangle cover up the shooting, was jailed for thirteen months after earlier admitting perverting the course of justice.

After suspicious items were found in the public area of a police station in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, an explosive ordnance disposal team was called in to examine the items. No further action was required but a man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm without a certificate.

Armed police officers seized imitation guns, swords and knives after being called out to an incident in Staffordshire. Click on media link to read full report.

Police officers responded after a man carrying an air rifle was seen walking across the field near a primary school in Sedgefield, Co. Durham. No arrests were made but officers remained at the scene to provide reassurance as the children left school.

As part of a day of action targeting serious organised crime, police officers raided homes on a housing estate in Birkenhead, Merseyside and recovered two crossbows, two air weapons, around £8,000 cash, two stolen e-bikes, heroin, cannabis, crack cocaine and cocaine. Click on media link to read full report.

Police appealed for information after two men were shot as they walked along a road in Leicester, Leicestershire. Both victims were taken to hospital, where they remain for ongoing treatment. No arrests have been reported.

In a joint operation with the UK Border Agency to investigate the increase in synthetic opioid products being adulterated into the drugs supply network, police officers raided several properties in Waltham Forest, North London and recovered 150,000 tablets of Nitazene, a “substantial amount” of other Class A and B drugs, a firearm, a pill pressing machine, over £60,000 in cash and £8,000 in cryptocurrency stored in various hard drives. Eleven people have since been arrested for their involvement in purportedly selling drugs via the Dark Web, using encrypted chat applications and social media.

A post-mortem examination has revealed that a teenage boy, found dead next to a canal in Birmingham, West Midlands in November 2023, died from a gunshot wound. A firearm was found nearby. Five days before the victim’s body was discovered, another teenage boy was shot at a property in the city. He died in hospital a few days later. Police believe the deaths are linked and have arrested a teenage boy on suspicion of the murder of the first teenager found.