Three men jailed after ammunition sting by pub

A 33-YEAR-old man from Meriden and a 38-year-old man from Rugby have been jailed following a police sting which saw the seizure of ammunition in the car park of a Midland pub.

More than 50 rounds of ammunition were recovered by officers who swooped on the car park of the Bradmore Arms pub in Wolverhampton in March 2017 after the movements of three men had been tracked.

An exchange involving the ammunition took place outside the Trysull Road but police officers swooped within a matter of seconds.

The three men then tried to flee, discarding the bag in the process

One attempted to drive out of the car park through a disused exit but failed to anticipate a concrete bollard blocking his exit and another was found in nearby bushes.

All three were charged with conspiring to transfer or sell ammunition.

Rundeep Bagga, 33, of Fillongley Road, Meriden, pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial and David Dixon, 38, of Biart Place, Rugby, had already pleaded guilty to conspiring to transfer or sell ammunition.

They were sentenced to three years and two-and-a-half years in prison respectively at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday February 23.

The third man, Michael Osbourne, aged 38, of Barnett Close, Wolverhampton, had been on bail for a drugs offence in January 2017 on the car park of Asda in Small Heath involving two other men.

That exchange was also intercepted by officers and four kilos of cocaine with a street value of £140,000 recovered.

Osbourne pleaded guilty to conspiring to transfer or sell ammunition and was found guilty of the drugs offence after a trial in July last year. He was jailed for a total of 12 years.

His co-defendants for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, Vitaljus Zasinas, aged 41 of no fixed address, and Timothy Joyce, aged 32 of Ash Road, Wednesbury, were sentenced to six years and seven and a half years at the same hearing.

Detective Constable Steve Oldbury, of the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “This is the latest success in our efforts to combat organised crime and to take deadly weapons off the region’s streets.”