Dad had ammunition and CS gas canister
CLAIMED IT WAS LOST PROPERTY FROM HIS FORMER TAXI RANK
A DAD who was caught with ammunition and a CS gas canister in his Huddersfield home claims they were lost property from a taxi rank that he sold more than a decade ago.
Santokh Singh’s barrister offered the explanation to a judge at Leeds Crown Court before he was handed a suspended sentence.
Police executed a search warrant at the 53-year-old’s home on Crosland Hill Road in Crosland Moor on May 26 last year.
Prosecutor Andrew Horton said officers were looking for someone else who was not there.
But 44 cartridges of ammunition were found in a drawer in the en suite of the master bedroom and the CS gas canister was found in a filing cabinet in a walk-in wardrobe in another room.
The court heard officers also found knives, BB guns, a knuckleduster and masks including balaclavas, but he was not being sentenced in relation to those yesterday.
Singh pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm, namely the ammunition, without holding a certificate and possession of a weapon designed or adapted for the discharge of a noxious liquid.
Abdul Iqbal QC, mitigating, said his client owned a taxi rank and the ammunition and gas canister was left in the office at some point.
He said: “There were many items left there for a long period of time.
“He sold it about 12 years ago.
“He took the items home.
“They were left in his home in various locations and stayed there since 2008.
“Those items were in his possession but they were not in his possession for any criminal purposes beyond that.”
Mr Iqbal said Singh has since worked at Huddersfield University and more recently worked transporting vulnerable people.
He said he has four children, most of whom attended the sentencing hearing and who work as a nurse, a teacher, a social worker and an engineer.
Mr Iqbal said press coverage of the case would be embarrassing for the family.
Speaking about the ammunition and gas canister, Judge Simon Phillips QC told Singh: “If your house had been the subject of a hostile or other intrusion, they could have fallen into the hands of someone with a criminal disposition.”
Speaking about the other items found in Singh’s home, the judge told him: “If others became aware they were in your possession, that would have increased the risk of your property being targeted.”
Singh was handed a four-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered to complete a five-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
The judge ordered forfeiture and destruction of the ammunition and gas canister.