Solihull gunmen jailed after police threatened with firearm after stopping Mercedes

Andrew Beckett and Antony Briscoe
-Credit:WMP


Two gunmen have been jailed after police officers were threatened with a firearm in Solihull. Andrew Beckett and Antony Briscoe were inside a Mercedes parked in the middle of The Radleys, Marston Green, with no lights on during the early hours of February 19 last year.

Police said the car had matched the description of being involved in a nearby disorder less than 30 minutes earlier. Briscoe, 37, initially got out of the vehicle when officers stopped the car.

However, Beckett, also 37, pulled out a handgun and threatened officers who quickly retreated before the pair fled the scene. The Mercedes was later found abandoned just over a mile away.

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Police also found a handgun and ammunition in a bush. Beckett and Briscoe were arrested within days.

Beckett, of The Radleys, Smiths Wood, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. He also pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition without a certificate. Beckett was jailed for five years and seven months at Birmingham Crown Court on January 27.

Briscoe, of Shirestone Road, Birmingham, was convicted of possession of a prohibited weapon, and possession of ammunition without a certificate following a trial. He was jailed for five years.

A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: "Weapons in the wrong hands can have deadly consequences and we've managed to seize another viable firearm."