An armed drill rapper who was chased through the streets of Kensington after resisting a police stop has been jailed for nearly eight years.
Plain clothes officers stopped Ellis Heather, 23, in Ladbroke Grove on October 22 last year because they noticed he was sitting in the front of a black Mercedes wearing an open-face balaclava.
The car initially sped off before pulling over in St Marks Road. Heather - also known as ‘Rack5’ - leapt out and ran off down nearby Bassett Road leading to a police foot chase.
When police managed to detain him in the garden of a nearby house, they found a gun nearby lying in the undergrowth.
It was found to be a Zoraki M906 that had originally been manufactured as a blank and gas firing pistol.
But the gun had been converted into a viable firearm loaded with six bullets.
Forensic analysis proved that he had been handling the firearm before attempting to dispose of it.
He was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday to 7 years and 9 months’ imprisonment for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
He was also given five years’ imprisonment to run concurrently for possession of a prohibited firearm.
Offences of possession of ammunition without a certificate and possession of a firearm when prohibited were not separately punished.
Met Detective Constable Tom Harris said: “This is a great example of officers out carrying proactive patrols and acting on their feeling that something was not right.
“As a result of that professional curiosity a lethal firearm has been removed from the streets, no doubt meaning a life has been saved somewhere down the line.
“The Met is utterly committed to bearing down on firearms. Anyone else concerned in the use of them can be assured that they too, like Heather, could find themselves going to prison."
