Herts gang given combined 62-year jail sentence for UK-wide gun sale operation
Members of a gang based in Hertfordshire have been jailed for their involvement in the supply of firearms across the UK.
It was proved that five men were creating guns and ammunition that were sold off to other gangs across the country.
Members of the gang based in Hertfordshire were sentenced to a combined 62 years in jail. They proved to be what specialist detectives have described as the distribution arm of a wide web of criminals converting and selling guns and ammunition. It was proved by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) that their regular customers included inner city gangs and drug dealers.
ERSOU has revealed that this is the second gang that has been sentenced in connection with arms manufacturing and sales after another organised group was sentenced to a combined 69 years.
ERSOU has confirmed that specialist detectives started investigating the Herts-based group in November 2023 after members of another gang in Berkshire were arrested and 83 guns were seized in the process.
When detectives found messages on the phones of the gang members that showed they were in contact with Andre Parris, 28, of Bedford Road, Hitchin, via encrypted messaging chat application Signal.
They communicated with a group chat titled ‘Transport’, where Parris – the ringleader - regularly made arrangements for collections and deliveries of guns and ammunition with the Berkshire -based OCG (organised crime group), ERSOU revealed.
Detectives discovered that Ricky Turner, 29, of Ascot Crescent, Stevenage, was also a key member of the group, tasked with storing the firearms before passing them to trusted couriers for distribution to gangs across the UK.
Andrew Wilson, 53, of Kimberley, Letchworth Garden City, was one of the couriers, moving guns to different locations across the country and using passwords when making collections or deliveries to ensure he was liaising with the right purchaser.
Messages seen by the police showed that Parris also sent postcodes and passwords via Whatsapp to couriers Paul Aldridge, 49, formerly of Wansbeck Close, Stevenage, and Niall Curley, 42, of Ripon Road, Stevenage, to complete collections and deliveries.
ERSOU has confirmed that Curley delivered guns to Glasgow, Liverpool and London in the weeks before his arrest.
Across a two-day period, ERSOU arranged the arrests of the five individuals. When officers arrested Turner, 34 firearms were found in his home, stored in individual zip lock bags and a taped box wrapped in bubble wrap. Search teams also found 340 rounds of ammunition, along with more than £1,000 in cash and class A drugs.
Curley and Aldridge were apprehended the same day, after ERSOU officers had observed them at Wilson’s home delivering a package thought to contain a gun.
Wilson was later arrested during a traffic stop, with officers finding a firearm in a ziplock bag and seven rounds of ammunition in his car.
The following day, Parris was arrested at Heathrow Airport on a flight to Barbados as he tried to leave the UK. Messages on his phone showed his desperate attempts to flee in the aftermath of his associates being detained.
All five were subsequently charged with conspiracy to supply firearms and, following a St Albans Crown Court hearing yesterday (5 February), were sentenced as follows:
Andre Paris, jailed for 15 years and nine months
Ricky Turner, jailed for 12 years
Andrew Wilson, jailed for 12 years
Paul Aldridge, jailed for 12 years
Niall Curley, jailed for 10 years and nine months
Detective Chief Inspector Steve Dowty, from ERSOU ROCU, said: “I am pleased to see these highly dangerous criminals receive substantial prison sentences. Through the efforts of our investigators, we have significantly disrupted the supply of firearms to other criminals, making our communities safer as a result of this operation.
“This gang paid no regard to the impact their actions were causing to communities across the country and were purely motivated by profit.
“We continue to work closely with police forces within the region and colleagues in specialist units across the country to ensure that criminals face the consequences of their illicit activities.”