Two jailed after sawn-off shotguns hurled from car

Two men have been jailed after sawn-off shotguns were thrown from a car as it led police on a high-speed chase through the Black Country.

A hunting knife, two swords in holders and a balaclava were also found in the car which reached speeds of 70mph during the five-mile chase.

One of the men in the car had been asked by a drug dealer to get rid of the weapons, the court was told. But police began to follow the car when officers on routine patrol noticed the men inside acting suspiciously.

Andrew Twist, aged 29, of Foxdale Drive, Brierley Hill, and Steven Mills, 31, of Marigold Crescent, Dudley, were sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.

A third man Declan Phipps, 28, of Bank Street, Brierley Hill, was convicted of going equipped for a theft or burglary by a jury and was yesterday jailed for 16 months.

The court heard the bag containing two sawn-off shotguns had been thrown from a car being driven by Twist at the end of the high-speed chase in Brierley Hill.

The bag had been found and a sawn-off 12-bore Beretta shotgun and a partially reactivated 12-bore Mossberg found inside.

A glove belonging to Phipps was found in the car, the court heard. Judge John Warner jailed Twist for a total of three years and nine months for two counts of possession of a firearm and for three months to run concurrently for dangerous driving. He admitted the offences at an earlier hearing.

He was also sentenced to five years for an unrelated matter of possession with intent to supply heroin making his total jail time eight years and nine months. He had denied the heroin charge.

Mills was jailed for 33 months for the firearms offences and six months for an unrelated matter of taking a car. He had admitted the firearms offence and been convicted after a trial on the vehicle charge. He was also sentenced to an additional nine months for breaching a suspended sentence.

Mr Philip Brunt, defending Twist, said his client was acting on behalf of someone else.