A drug dealer who hid a shotgun and pistol in a mattress at his home in a Nottinghamshire village has been jailed for nine years – after delaying a police search by saying he was brushing his teeth.
Nathan Rochester was arrested after a stand-off with police in Radcliffe-on-Trent on Saturday, July 8.
Police had called at the address in Shelford Road after intelligence suggested there were firearms being kept there.
Following standard police procedure in firearms incidents, police knocked at the door rather than force entry without warning. Rochester, 26, stalled the officers, saying he was brushing his teeth and drying his hair.
After he eventually left the house, a search found a slit in the mattress of a double bed in the main bedroom of the end terrace house.
Inside was a red bandana, a sawn-off shotgun, two cartridges and a self-loading pistol, which had a single bullet in its chamber.
Rochester had also adapted a blank bullet to make it ‘live’ for firing. Another bullet for the handgun was also discovered in a bag under the kitchen sink.
Rochester appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday, September 4, having previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm.
He was sentenced to five years on each count, to serve concurrently. He was also jailed for a further four years in relation to two possession with intent to supply Class A drugs offences.
This followed his arrest in February 2015 after a quantity of heroin and crack cocaine was found during a warrant at an address in Aspley, Nottingham.
Rochester failed to attend his trial and had been on the run from authorities ever since. He will now spend up to nine years behind bars.
Rushcliffe Neighbourhood Inspector Craig Berry said: “Ammunition for the recovered guns was found close by the weapons and, in fact, the handgun was already loaded and capable of firing. By removing these deadly weapons from the Nottinghamshire community we have removed a very real risk of further crime, leading to serious or fatal injury.
“Not only did Nathan Rochester know he was committing a crime by keeping the weapons, he wasted valuable police time on the day of the search, not to mention made crude attempts to hide the evidence.
“Over the past year he’s been attempting to evade officers in relation to his drugs offences, but his criminal dealings have eventually caught up with him today with a hefty jail term.”