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JAILED: Anthony Gayle was arrested while carrying a submachine gun and revolver

A HEAVILY armed gang member has been successfully been locked up for 12 years after being found guilty of a number of gun-related charges.

Anthony Gayle, 23, of Peckham, south London, was given his prison term today at Woolwich Crown Court – he was convicted of being in possession of a submachine gun, having a loaded firearm, large quantities of ammunition, and a mixture of crack cocaine and heroin worth £3,000.

Armed officers carrying out an active operation arrested Gayle on December 11, 2012, and initiated action after observing him leaving his home address on Ondine Road. Officers followed their suspect as he rode a moped to an address in Wivenhoe Close, where he entered a residential block.

Once Gayle emerged carrying a black bag he had picked, police swooped in to stop him.

Specialist firearms officers found: a 9mm Parabellum calibre MAC10 submachine gun; a 357 Magnum calibre Smith and Wesson revolver that was loaded with six individual rounds of hollow point ammunition bullets; 95 additional live rounds of expanding and hollow point ammunition; and a “significant quantity of crack cocaine and heroin”.

In an unrelated investigation, £29,065 in cash was seized along with a camcorder at an address in Redhill, Surrey, where Gayle had been living.

LETHAL EVIDENCE: What was recovered from Gayle when police arrested him

In court he admitted the cash had come from selling cannabis, and it was subsequently confiscated. Footage recovered from the camcorder showed Gayle smoking cannabis and saying: “The only thing we do good is smoke weed and bang, bang”.

Detective inspector Paul Dorey, of Trident, said: “Gayle was arrested by armed officers in a public street in possession of a sub machine gun, loaded revolver and 101 rounds of the most dangerous expanding and hollow point ammunition.

“The investigation also recovered a large quantity of Class A drugs and the forfeiture of a significant amount of cash derived from his criminal activities.


“Investigations have confirmed that one of the firearms was involved in a previous non-fatal gang-related shooting. With this in mind, these firearms would surely have been involved in further shootings had they not been seized by police.”

He added: “The video found in Gayle's possession further demonstrated his involvement in gang-related crime.

“I hope that this, coupled with the successful conviction of Gayle, will send a clear message to those concerned in gun crime; Trident officers will relentlessly pursue them and they can expect to be identified, brought before the courts and convicted for such offences.”

GANG SHOOTER: The Mac 10 and revolver taken from Gayle