A BURY man has been jailed for six years after ramming police cars before a loaded handgun was thrown from his vehicle.

Ikhlaq Hussain, of Chesham Fold Road, was ordered to pull over by officers during the police pursuit in Bradford, but failed to stop.

During the chase, a Walther handgun loaded with seven rounds of ammunition and 46 separate rounds of 9mm ammunition were thrown from the vehicle.

Hussain, along with passenger, Ali Adnam Khan from Hartman Place, Bradford – both aged 29 – were eventually arrested on 16 December, 2016 in the New Leeds area of the city.

At Leeds Crown Court on Friday, Hussain was sentenced to six years and banned from driving for five years.

He admitted the illegal possession of a Section 5 firearm and ammunition and dangerous driving.

An investigation by the National Crime Agency’s Armed Operations Unit (AOU) found that the pair had met with two other men, Kyle Stewart, aged 24, and Umar Mahmood, aged 31, prior to the police pursuit and officers believe this was when the handover of the weapon and ammunition took place.

Stewart, of HMP Armley, and Umar Mahmood, of HMP Lindholme were charged with conspiracy to supply a prohibited weapon and conspiracy to supply ammunition without a certificate and remanded in custody.

Khan, Stewart and Mahmood appeared at Leeds Crown Court on December 4, 2017 for the start of their trial and all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon.

Khan was sentenced to five years and ten months, while Stewart was given six years and three months.

Mahmood was sentenced to five years for his part in the incident.

Tim Gregory, from the NCA’s Armed Operations Unit said: “Firearms pose a serious threat to the safety of the public. As has been shown here today, the NCA and partners will not stop in our efforts to remove these dangerous weapons from the streets of the UK.

“We are actively sharing information with partners, taking action against those who seek to supply illegal firearms and removing them from criminal circulation.”