THE son of jailed Doddington gang leader Ian McLeod has been locked up for his role in plots to buy and sell guns.

Gavin Donald, 26, was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years at Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition.

The court heard Donald, now of Copperfield Place, Leeds, moved away from Manchester after losing an eye in a shooting in an effort to get away from the gang lifestyle.

But, after falling back into his old ways, he brokered deals between villains looking to buy and sell guns in two separate conspiracies.

Former Manchester United youth starlet Aaron Rouse, 25, of Stretford, also acted as an underworld go-between and has been jailed for eight years.

Minshull Street Court heard Rouse, who admitted two counts of possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition, was on the cusp of a professional football career before getting sucked into south Manchester's notorious Doddington gang.

Last April, Donald and Rouse put Jonathan Martins and Sahr Sundu, both 24, from London, in touch with Marlon Small, 25, of Leeds as a potential buyer of a re-bored Arminius revolver.

Martins and Sundu were arrested by armed officers on their way to Small's house in Leeds and their co-conspirators were linked by mobile phone evidence.

In the second case, two months after the first, police were tipped off that Donald and Rouse were helping Marlon Small buy a gun a second time.

Donald was in a convoy of men that drove to Manchester from Huddersfield to collect two 9mm Reck Miami pistols, with matching silencers, laser-sights and loaded magazines.

Surveillance

The cars were later stopped on the A56 by armed police after being caught out by a surveillance operation involving officers from West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester

Sentencing, His Honour Judge Geake said: "Gun crime in the city of Manchester and other cities in this country is just so prevalent the message has to keep going out from the courts that it will be severely punished.

"Clearly people like you have good qualities about you. The fact remains that you only have yourselves to blame for your present predicament."

Addressing Donald, His Honour Judge Geake added: "Maybe you were trying to turn your life around. The fact remains that you were once again sucked back into the criminal underworld and showed yourself intent on acquiring guns for whatever reason. These weapons can only have been intended for lethal gangster activity."

As he sent Rouse down, His Honour Judge Geake told him: "You have a distinct liking for weapons according to your record, but your record is not of such gravity, and information is that you had significant ties with one of the well-known Manchester gangs."

Speaking after the hearing, DS Dave Caulfield said: "The sentencing of Rouse and Donald is hugely significant for us, both are high up in the gang structure.

"Hopefully this will send a message to people that if they get involved with gun crime the judiciary won't tolerate it and neither will the police or the public, who have provided us with significant information about these men."

Sahr Sundu, who drove to Manchester with the Arminius revolver, was sentenced to five years alongside Donald and Rouse after admitting possession of a firearm.

Six other men were sentenced on Wednesday.

Sundu's partner in crime, Jonathan Martins admitted two counts of possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and dangerous driving, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

The men's prospective buyer, Marlon Small, 25, admitted two counts of possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and driving while disqualified. He was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in prison.

Conspiracy

Rainny Pemagbi, 18, of London, whose DNA was found on the revolver, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm following an earlier trial. He was sentenced to three years in a young offenders' institute on Wednesday 9 June 2009.

Levon Halliday,25, of Leeds and Gavin Dennis, 27, of Huddersfield, admitted possession of a firearm and were both sentenced to four years in prison.

Shoukat Ali of Leeds, got five years after being found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition following an earlier trial, alongside Remy Parker, 18, of Melbourne Avenue, Stretford, who is expected to be sentenced later this month.

Gavin Donald's father, Ian McLeod is serving a life sentence handed out after he was found guilty of conspiracy to murder following a bungled assassination attempt at Salford pub, the Brass Handles.

He had been enlisted by Salford gangster Bobby Spiers to recruit two hitmen to kill David Totton, but the assassins bungled the job and ended up being killed themselves.
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