Driver caught with gun in bag has sentenced upheld
A DRIVER jailed after a lethal Russian pistol was discovered stashed in a man bag cannot complain about his tough sentence, senior judges have ruled.
Remele Bryan, 31, was caged for six years at Birmingham Crown Court in March after he admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition.
The automatic minimum jail term for firearms possession offences is five years, apart from in “exceptional” cases.
Bryan, of Central Grove, Acocks Green, was arrested while at the wheel of a luxury Audi in Hawthorn Road, Kingstanding, in February.
A search of the car revealed a ninemillimetre Baikal pistol – complete with loaded magazine.
The weapon was inside a man bag placed between the driver’s seat and the door. The weapon’s serial number had been erased, Mr Justice Haddon-Cave told London’s Appeal Court, and it was “ready to fire”.
Also in the car were various masks and a pair of gloves, but Bryan insisted he was simply a “custodian” of the items.
But the appeal judge, sitting with Lady Justice Sharp and Mrs Justice Laing, said there were no “exceptional circumstances” justifying a shorter sentence.
The gun could have been used for “serious crime”, he added.
The judge concluded: “The total six-year sentence cannot be said to be manifestly excessive looking at the overall criminality of this case.
“This appeal is dismissed.”