A GANGSTER who armed himself with a gun after rivals tried to kill him three times has been jailed for six years.

Reydell Waite got the gun - a 9mm Russian-made pistol with a silencer - after he was targeted by members of the notorious Doddington Gang in Manchester's Moss Side and was twice shot in the legs.

Waite, believed to be a senior member of the rival Gooch Gang, knew his enemies suspected he was involved in a crime - the details were not revealed in court - so he got the gun from a man in Wythenshawe to scare off attackers.

But Waite, from Raby Street, Moss Side, was being watched by a police surveillance team who swooped after he arrived at a house in Whalley Range.

The unloaded Baikal gun was later found by a neighbour in her back yard. Waite had thrown it there when he realised police were at the scene.

Waite, 21, is starting the jail term after admitting possessing a prohibited weapon, an offence which carries a sentence of between five and 10 years.

Waite, who denies he is still an active gangster, was told by Judge Anthony Gee at Manchester Crown Court: "Those who involve themselves in the possession of firearms must expect to receive no mercy and the courts must do whatever is best in order to deter those who might be minded to possess firearms and use them."

Each time Waite was shot he refused to help the police with their inquiries. Richard Orme, prosecuting, said he was `immersed in gang culture.'

Waite entered a guilty plea after new evidence arose. After his first court appearance Waite and another man were being taken back to jail and a prison officer overheard him say `They don't know it's me who chucked the baby out of the window.'

The officer thought he was admitting murdering a child but Mr Orme said the comment referred to throwing the gun away as police swooped.
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