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Bristol sub-machine gun plot thwarted by police

News imageAvon and Somerset Police Kairan Greenwood, Raymond Ray and Simon ChristopherAvon and Somerset Police
Kairan Greenwood, Raymond Ray and Simon Christopher were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court

Three men involved in a plot to transport a sub-machine gun and ammunition have been jailed.

Bristol Crown Court heard the men were involved in a plan to transport the weapon from Bournemouth to the city.

Undercover officers from Avon and Somerset Police stopped a car carrying the gun in Warmley, South Gloucestershire, in April last year.

The plan followed a number of stabbing and shooting incidents in the Hillfields area of Bristol in 2015.

The men convicted were:

  • Kairan Greenwood, 29, of College Court, Bristol. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and was jailed for 11 years. He was sentenced to a further six years for a similar offence involving pistols, committed while he was on remand.
  • Raymond Ray, 31, of Porchester Road, Bournemouth. He was convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and was sentenced to 13 years.
  • Simon Christopher, 42, of Lydney Road, Bristol, admitted possessing a prohibited weapon and ammunition. He was jailed for five years.
News imageAvon and Somerset Police Sterling sub-machine gunAvon and Somerset Police
The weapon was found hidden in a black sports holdall

The court heard Greenwood was the ringleader who sent a courier to collect the Sterling sub-machine gun, which was found in a black sports holdall.

Det Ch Insp James Riccio said: "There is no doubt in my mind that those who have been convicted had every intention of using this dangerous firearm.

"It had the potential to maim or even kill others."