South London corner shop owner waits 3 years for sentencing after fake handgun found in his Range Rover
A Brockley shop owner has waited three years to be sentenced after a fake gun was 'planted' in his Range Rover outside a Croydon house. Martin Seymour Logan, 45, wore blue three-piece suit and burgundy tie at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday, September 25, as he was given a 12-month community order for possessing an imitation firearm and for having a prohibited weapon.
Logan, of Apex Close in Beckenham, committed the offences in 2021 but had to wait 1,125 days to find out his punishment. According to his barrister, the four-time convict has now abandoned his past associations after a 2021 crime spree, which started with Class A drugs offences and culminated in the weapons offences while under conditional discharge.
The court heard Logan was stopped by police for a search outside an event at a house in Bensham Manor Road in Thornton Heath, Croydon, at around 9pm on August 27 2021.
After finding nothing on him, police asked to search his four-by-four, but Logan refused to hand over his car keys. Police broke into the car by smashing the window and discovered a bag containing a pistol.
Logan was arrested but refused to let officers into his two-bed flat in Beckenham. Police forced entry again, this time finding a homemade stun gun and charger stuffed down the side of his bed. The pistol later transpired to be a convincing replica airgun, and the stun gun was found to be working.
Logan gave no comment in his police interview, but later told a probation officer the handgun had been planted. He said the firearm had been placed in his vehicle by someone else at the event, calling it 'a setup'. He also claimed he 'gave no thought' to the stun gun being in his bedroom when police asked to search his home.
The discovery of the weapons came after Logan was given a conditional discharge for Class A drugs offences at Derby Crown Court in July 2021. The weapons offences, committed over three years ago, took so long to get to court because it was not a priority in the current backlog, MyLondon understands. A source suggested 'it was not an offence they needed to get on with quickly'.
Defence counsel Ryan Thompson said his client had left his old life behind and now works two jobs, as a computer engineer and corner shop owner.
"He's changed his lifestyle and associations. He's almost certainly not going to come back before the criminal justice system," said Mr Thompson, urging the judge to avoid imposing a prison sentence.
Companies House records show Logan, who was also convicted for a domestic incident against a female in 2023, is a director at Logan's Convenience Store in Brockley Cross.
The company was listed in December 2021 but was struck off in May last year. The small newsagents sells food, alcohol, and cigarettes, while also offering phone top-ups.
Judge Antony Dunne recognised the 'significant delay' in hearing the case and said that it appeared Logan had turned his life around since committing the offences. Handing him a 12-month community order, with 30 rehabilitation days and 120 hours of unpaid work, Judge Dunne warned him against reoffending if he wanted to avoid going to prison.
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