Phone picture helps jail man

AN Oldham man who photographed himself brandishing a gun has been sentenced to five years behind bars after a shotgun and ammunition were found at an address in Lydgate.

Gavin Whiteman (24), of Radcliffe Street, St Mary’s, was handed the sentence after pleading guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court.

The sentencing follows an incident on December 2 last year when police were called to reports of disturbance in Platting Road, Lydgate.

The disturbance was over by the time police arrived at the address, but Whiteman and his friends were acting suspiciously and refused to tell police what had happened.

Officers searched the area and found a sports bag containing a sawn-off shotgun and cartridges behind the garden wall.

Whiteman and his three friends were arrested at the scene but the three other men were later released without charge.

Police later obtained CCTV footage from the house in Platting Road which shows Whiteman entering a shed in his garden and coming out with a bag. He then goes into his home and another camera shows him going upstairs and coming back down with a jacket before leaving the house with what appears to be a black and white bag.

Police later found a photograph on Whiteman’s phone showing him posing with a shotgun.

Detective Constable Michelle Lomax, from Oldham CID, said: “Whiteman was arrogant enough to take a picture of himself holding the shotgun on his mobile phone, obviously believing that he was above the law.

“We may never know the reason for the disturbance outside his house that night but the fact that police recovered this weapon from behind the garden wall shows that the result of that disturbance could have been a lot worse.

“I am pleased that another dangerous firearm has been removed from the streets of Oldham and hope this case sends out a message that possessing firearms does not give you status, it gives you time behind bars and a criminal record.”