A Stonebridge man and a woman from Park Royal have been jailed for their role in a criminal gang, masterminded by two prison inmates, which supplied illegal firearms and ammunition.
Leon Brown, 31 of Melville Road, and Sherika Abbott-Holder, 27, of Ashbourne Road, were part of a sophisticated network led by murderer Carl Gordon, 27, and fellow prisoner Paul Alexander, 58, from their cells in Swaleside Prison in Kent.
Woolwich Crown Court heard a total of eight people were involved with Gordon, a lifer, who used his links to organised crime with Alexander tapping in on his knowledge of firearms, to arranged the lawful purchase of obsolete guns to parties on the outside which were converted to live weapons.
The network was smashed when officers received intelligence that the pair were in contact with criminals on the outside via smuggled mobile phones.
All were convicted in April.
On Friday, Brown was jailed for three years and 10 months for conspiracy to transfer ammunition, and Abbot-Holder was sentenced to 11 years for conspiracy to supply firearms with intent to endanger life and money laundering.
Alexander must serve a further 16 years when his current prison sentence ends next year for conspiracy to supply firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
His wife, Caroline Hunter-Mann-Purdy, 64, admitted conspiracy to supply firearms and was jailed for seven years and his step-daughter Lullabell Purdy, 26, both from Harwich, pleaded guilty to money laundering offences and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service.
Emma Jones, 26, from Uxbridge, was jailed for seven years after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply firearms, and David Joseph, a 28-year-old who is serving a sentence in Wandsworth Prison, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply firearms with intent to endanger life and was sentenced to 10 years.
Gordon will be sentenced at a later date.
Detectives launched Operation Propus to investigate their activities resulting in the recovery of 12 guns and other defendants being sentenced to a total of 28 years’ in jail for possession of firearms and ammunition.
Det Insp Richard Mills, investigating officer, said: “During the period that Gordon and Alexander met in prison, they effectively became business partners, dealing in deadly weapons and ammunition. The firearms and ammunition they converted had the potential to cause great harm on our streets and there is no doubt London is a safer place as a result of this network being dismantled.
“This was a complex investigation by the Met’s Special Intelligence Section, which is committed to targeting criminal networks and bringing a successful prosecution. I would like to pay tribute to the detectives who have worked tirelessly to see this case to its successful conclusion.”
Related links: Man from Stonebridge convicted of role in criminal gun supply network
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