A MARKET trader - who accepted a heroism award on behalf of his dead brother - has been jailed for supplying bullets to the criminal underworld.

Michel Metcalf, whose firefighter brother died trying to save a drowning boy, was sentenced to two years after police seized a thousand rounds of 9mm ammunition.

Metcalf, 49, of Calf Hey Close, Radcliffe, had pleaded guilty to possessing and supplying ammunition.

He was arrested along with two other men when officers in Bury raided an address on Swallow Drive in the town and Metcalf's home.

Armed police also stopped a Fiat Punto on Ainsworth Road, Bury, this year.

Metcalf admitted at Bolton Crown Court manufacturing and supplying the ammunition over a period of around eight months.

Det Insp Lynne Vernon of Bury CID said: "The sentence was the result of a lot of hard work by my officers and officers from the armed unit.

"Every bullet on the streets of Manchester represents a significant threat to someone's life and Metcalf was compliant in supplying these potentially fatal items.

"I am pleased we have been able to bring him to justice and highlight the good work undertaken across the whole of GMP tackling gun crime.

"I hope today's sentence sends out that message."

Tragedy

The conviction is another blow for his family, who were struck by tragedy in 1999 when Metcalf's brother, Paul, drowned as he tried in vain to rescue a 15-year-old boy from Simon's Lodge in Hawkshaw, near Bury.

At an inquest a jury returned an open verdict.

Paul, a strong swimmer, had entered the water 30 minutes after Reyaz Ali disappeared. The officer drowned after a rope that was tied around his waist became snagged on a branch beneath the water.

A court was later a told a `catalogue of failures' by his brigade had led to his death.

In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive, Greater Manchester Fire Service was accused of a breach of duty under health and safety law.

The brigade was cleared by a jury but the case led to changes nationally in the way firefighters carry out water rescues.

One source said: "After what happened to Paul the family are now devastated by this conviction of his brother."

Paul, who was based at Ramsbottom Station, was posthumously awarded a bravery award which Michel accepted on his behalf from the then Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Colonel Sir John Timmins, in 2002.