By Eric King-
East London Police have launched a gun amnesty in an attempt to drastically reduce the spate of gun crime that has dogged East London for years.
It is hoped that the amnesty will provide an opportunity for hardened criminals with guns wishing to dispose of them to hand them over to police without worrying about facing prosecution.
Police know that those who bring guns to the station to hand them in are not necessarily the original owners of the guns. East London Cops told the eye of media.com that they will not be judging those who hand in guns as part of the amnesty programme, neither would they be pursuing any prosecutions against them. Gun amnesties conducting by the police are genuine and cannot be used to trap those who surrender guns to the police. The fact that criminals often keep guns in the possession of their girlfriends or family friends is well known to police, and ”the assumption will be that this is the case”, the eye of media.com has heard. Under normal circumstances, anybody found with a gun in their possession faces 5 years imprisonment regardless of how the gun came to be with them. That law will not apply to those handing in guns under the amnesty practise.
Ofcourse, if a wanted person turns up to hand in a gun, they will still be arrested because the amnesty programme is designed to get rid of guns, not let wanted criminals of the hook. However, police will not be running checks with those who turn up to surrender guns, only if a person who turns up is positively recognised as a wanted person will they be arrested, but not in connection with the gun handed in.
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Commander Jim Stokley, of the Met’s Trident and Area Crime Command, said in a press statement : “We urge members of the public who may have any unwanted guns to hand them in to police to prevent them from falling into criminal hands.
“The guns we see being used in shooting incidents in London are often converted, formerly legally-owned, firearms.
“Others are acquired and distributed by criminal networks to threaten or harm their local communities.
“We know that friends, family members and girlfriends of gang members are often asked to look after firearms to hide them from police, but saying ‘it’s not my gun’ is not a defence. Illegal possession of a firearm can mean five years behind bars, and if you are found guilty of possession with intent to supply, that can lead to an even longer prison sentence.
“Each firearm we retrieve helps to reduce the threat of gun crime in London.”
The gun amnesty begins from today, Monday, and runs until Sunday, November 26.
A list of police stations were guns can be handed in include: Bethnal Green police station, Victoria Park Square
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Dagenham police station, Rainham Road. South Forest Gate police station, Romford Road
Ilford police station, High Road, and Romford police station, Main Road.
The eye of media.com will find out how successful the amnesty was by the beginning of next week.
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