Car dealer discovers shotgun in boot
A car dealer got more than he bargained for when he bought a VW Jetta from three strangers, a judge heard.
Jason Fellows picked up a package while helping to clear the boot at a meeting with the trio in Bradford, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
When the 43-year-old discovered it was a shotgun, he quickly returned it to the owner, said Mr Graham Russell, prosecuting.
What Fellows did not know was that this person was featuring in a major drug investigation by West Yorkshire Police, the court heard.
And when detectives arrested a man in a swoop on a taxi three weeks later they found the shotgun in the vehicle in December 2012 – with Fellows' fingerprints on it.
Fellows was in more trouble when he ran down a relative in an unrelated incident during a feud in Willenhall Lane, Willenhall, on February 23 last year.
He feared that the life of his son, who was travelling with him, was in danger when a man allegedly leaped out armed with a 'slasher' after blocking their vehicle with his van, it was said. Fellows drove into the other man 'knocking him into the air'.
Mr Tom Harrill, defending, said: "Both these offences stem from poor decision making. He held the shotgun for less than a minute and in the Willenhall confrontation feared for his son's safety."
Fellows, of Woodville, Derbyshire, admitted possessing a shotgun without a certificate and assault and was given a 12 month community order under supervision with 120 hours unpaid work, a 16 week night time curfew and £1,000 costs.
