Caitlin Adams posed for selfies with an AK-47, whose sale her boyfriend directed from his jail cell
A prisoner
using a mobile phone smuggled into his jail cell was at the centre of
gang who supplied over 40 guns to underworld figures in just six months.
Ishmael
Brown was serving time at HMP Rochester but directing the making and
sale of weapons including an AK47-style assault rifle to criminals in
the outside world.
His
girlfriend, Caitlin Adams, who was pictured posing for a selfie in a
mask and leotard with one of the guns, then delivered the arsenal to
buyers.
Adams organised the delivery of the arsenal of firearms reactivated by her boyfriend's gang
Police began
tracking the gang after pulling over a minicab in Newham, east London
in June last year and finding a reactivated 9mm self-loading pistol
inside.
One
of the men travelling the car, Aaron Shane Murray, was later found to
be buying and reactivating guns with the help of Bart Pawlowski, a
metalworker and former soldier in the Polish army.
Upon
investigating, police discovered the group was being directed from
Brown's jail cell and that of another HMP Rochester inmate, Ehsen
Abdul-Razak.
In the
six-month period between January and June 2015, in excess of 40
firearms, including an AK47 style assault rifle, were sourced by the
group, police said.
To
date, eight reactivated firearms linked to this group have been
recovered, officers are attempting to recover the remaining weapons.
Deactivated
guns are sold legally but have usually been altered so that they cannot
fire. Criminals can illegally reactivate them in workshops.
Another member of the gang, Aaron Murray, was also pictured posing with
one of the weapons, which were re-activated by a former Polish soldier
then sold on into the criminal underworld
The operation was directed by Ishmael Brown (right) while he was serving time in HMP Rochester in Kent
Brown, 26,
Abdul-Razak, 19,Murray, 29, of Wandsworth, and another member of the
gang Uzair Patel, 28, of Newham, admitted conspiracy to transfer
prohibited weapon.
Adams, 25, of Lewisham, and Pawlowski, 42, of Wandsworth, were found guilty of the same offence.
All
six are due to be sentenced at Harrow Crown Court today. They are all
expected to get prison terms of between five and ten years.
Police
say the investigation, which involved close work with the prison
wardens, has made London safer by taking dangerous firearms off the
streets.
DI
James Hale from the Trident and Area Crime Command, said: 'I would like
to take this opportunity to urge anyone with knowledge of the
whereabouts of any of the outstanding weapons to contact police.'
Prisoners Ishmael Brown (left) and Ehsen Abdul-Razak (right) directed the sales on phones smuggled into jail
Polish metalworker Bart Pawlowski helped reactivate the guns. Gang member Uzair Patel (right) also faces jail.
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