A TEENAGER pictured posing with a gun which had been used in two serious shooting incidents has been jailed for five years.

Robert Roper, 19, was not connected with the shootings but was acting out of a `pathetic' sense of bravado when the picture was taken on his mobile phone, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Bullets
The picture was discovered when police executed a search warrant at Roper's family home in Brooklands, Manchester, where the gun and ten 9mm bullets were also found.

Roper, of Jasmine Close, always maintained he was `storing' the gun and ammunition for a criminal gang which had put him under increasing pressure by burgling his home three times.

'Fear'
Lisa Judge, defending, said: "The burglaries took place to cause fear and distress to the family and to convince him that the best course of action would be to store the gun.

"In his fear and terror he decided not to call the police."

Roper, a joiner, was arrested after police found the gun and ammunition in a sports bag under his bed. David Lees, prosecuting, said originally the gun was designed to fire blanks but had been modified with a new barrel and was in full working order.

Roper said he had been holding the gun for three weeks because he was `too scared to say no' when asked to look after it.

Convictions
Roper, who had previous convictions for drug offences, was jailed for five years after he admitted possessing a weapon and ammunition.

Judge Andrew Blake told him: "I accept you were simply a custodian and were under some pressure.

"Guns are now so prevalent in the cities of this country and the offences have to be met with severe sentences."