Deadly AK-47 machine gun and live ammo found at Leeds suburban home
A working AK-47 assault rifle was found along with 30 rounds of live ammunition when police searched a Leeds home on an unrelated matter.
Kane Clarke was arrested at his home on Kelsall Road in Hyde Park on November 20 last year and the property routinely searched.
Officers were shocked to find the machine gun in a rifle bag in the cellar.
The stock / shoulder butt had been removed and there was a magazine that was fully loaded with live bullets, along with a black balaclava. The judge at Leeds Leeds Crown Court called it an “assassin’s kit bag”.
The weapon was examined and found to be capable of firing semi-automatic and fully automatic, prosecutor Oliver Connor told the court.
Clarke, 27, later said he was holding the gun on behalf of drug dealers who had threatened him but he would not provide further details for fear of reprisals. He has only one previous conviction for criminal damage.
He admitted charges of possessing a prohibited weapon and having ammunition without a certificate.
Mitigating, Celine Kart said: “He did not use or did not intend to use the weapon.”
She said those forced to stash weapons for organised gangs are not always fully aware of what they are storing.
However, she said he was remorseful, had “held his hands up” and was expecting a lengthy custodial sentence.
She said he had a difficult upbringing, was stabbed as a teenager and has ADHD.
Judge Richard Mansell KC said: “How a young man of previous good character found himself in this position is something only you and those who got you into it know.
“You plainly knew it was some kind of assault rifle and bullets.”
He jailed him for five years, the minimum term required for such offences.
The AK-47 was developed in the Soviet Union in 1949 and remains one of the most widely-used, most reliable and deadly assault rifles in the world.
Detective Inspector John Graham, who heads the Leeds District Programme Precision Team, which targets serious and organised crime, said: “This is a military-grade weapon designed for the battlefield and is something that can have only one deadly purpose in the hands of criminals.
“It is extremely rare for firearms of this type to be found in circulation and thankfully this one has now been taken off the streets.
“We hope the significant prison term that he has received will provide some reassurance to the community and remind those who involve themselves in this type of crime of the penalties they can expect.”