Police chief accuses judges of 'going soft' on gun crime by failing to impose tough minimum sentences

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A chief constable has accused judges of being lenient on gun crime.

Bernard Hogan-Howe, head of Merseyside Police, said there was inconsistency among judges with some failing to implement the mandatory five-year sentence for firearms possession.

It was introduced in 2004 but judges are allowed to use their discretion if they think the full term is inappropriate. This could be because of the offender's age, for example.

According to the Ministry of Justice's most recent figures, the average sentence handed down for the offence in 2005 was 47 months and only 40 per cent of offenders were given the mandatory minimum term.

Mr Hogan-Howe, whose force is investigating the shooting of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool last year, said: "Locally there is evidence of sentencing where the power has been available and not been used and that is simply wrong.

"I want very heavy sentences for possession of firearms."

He cited a recent case on Merseyside in which two men had been found in possession of 11 firearms and seven

silencers. One received a 15-year sentence and the other eight years.

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Shot dead: Schoolboy Rhys Jones was murdered

"Now that's the type of sentence that starts to be a deterrent," he said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday, Mr Hogan-Howe accepted there were occasions when the minimum term was not appropriate, such as youths leaned on by criminals to store a weapon.

"But I'm afraid those are very rare occasions," he said.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts. The mandatory five-year sentence for possession of a firearm is a starting point. Judges must then take aggravating and mitigating factors into consideration."

Shadow home secretary David Davis said there had been a fourfold increase in gun-related violence under Labour.

"The problem is they are happy to pass tough laws to get a good headline only to simply not enforce them."