Ian Richard Bell, of previous good character, was at the wheel of a Range Rover Evoque involved in a two-car collision just off the A692 Durham Road roundabout at Leadgate, on the evening of December 22, 2023.
Durham Crown Court was told both he and the other driver were trapped in their respective vehicles and required the assistance of emergency services to be released.
Bell was breathalysed and gave a positive reading for alcohol, for which he was arrested.
Deborah Smithies, prosecuting, said he has subsequently been dealt with at magistrates’ court level for drink driving, his first ever conviction.
But she said it was what was subsequently found in his car and his home which could have landed him with a long prison sentence.
(Image: Durham Constabulary) Police routinely checked Bell’s Evoque at the scene to remove any valuables or personal items to return to him.
“They were surprised to find a lighter or a firearm which was shaped like a pistol.”
Miss Smithies said it was examined and found it to be authentic and old, but the interior chamber was dirty and did not appear to have been used for a long while.
(Image: Durham Constabulary) There was no sign of any ammunition and none was recovered in a search of the defendant’s country farmhouse-style home in Bellingham, Northumberland, the following day.
But officers found four wall-mounted shotguns on a landing.
On examination it was discovered due to the differing ages of the shotguns two would have required a licence, while the revolver was classed as a prohibited weapon.
In interview the defendant made full admissions but said he was unaware he was required to have a shotgun certificate and had no intention to use any of the weapons, which had been given to him by an old friend as decorations befitting of the home he had recently acquired and was furnishing.
(Image: Durham Constabulary) He said the same friend had also helped supply other fitting furnishings for the property, Rose Hip Cottage, including a grandfather clock.
Bell told police that as his friend had been unwell so he went for a pre-Christmas drink with him on the night of the collision, when he was also given the pistol.
Although he said he did not really want it, as it was not in keeping with the the other furnishings, he took it so as not to appear ungrateful to his friend, but again said he had no intention of ever using the weapon.
The 59-year-old defendant admitted two counts of possession of a shotgun without a certificate and one of possession of a prohibited weapon.
Susan Hurst, in mitigation, told the court: “Until the night of this incident, at the age, then of 58, he was of previous good character.
“He indicated his guilt at the lower court and gave the same account he gave to police earlier.”
She said Bell’s friend had, wrongly, told him he would not require certificates for any of the shotguns, while it has emerged the revolver would not have been illegal to possess two years earlier.
Miss Hurst told the court that a police firearms officer said the ammunition for such a firearm had become almost obsolete and was no longer manufactured.
She added that the defendant had worked for the same company for 25 years and was well thought of, and supported by his colleagues and employers.
Judge Nathan Adams said, from the outset, he accepted the defendant’s account for possessing such items and it was a justified exception as far as passing the mandatory minimum five-year sentence for possessing a prohibited firearm.
“You were in possession of these items believing them to be antiques for display purposes for your home, a farmhouse-type building with exposed timber beams and the like.
“I accept you were unaware two of the shotguns required a certificate.”
The judge said it was the “stupidity” of having that pre-Christmas drink which brought the defendant to the police’s attention, but he accepted with his previous “exemplary character” he was ignorant of the status in law of the pistol given to him on the night of the collision.
He, therefore, passed an 18-month community order with 200 hours’ unpaid work requirement.
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Judge Adams ordered the defendant to pay £1,000 court costs, within six months.
The judge also ordered forfeiture and destruction of the seized weapons.
As the defendant left the dock, Judge Adams told him: “I’m sure the experience of going through this has had a clear effect on you and your family.”