A man jailed after being found with a gun at Heathrow Airport he claimed he did not know was in his luggage will be released from jail after a successful appeal.
Mexican national Rogelio Ahumada y Otero was found at Heathrow Airport with a working automatic pistol in his carry-on, alongside magazine cartridges, on May 7 this year while going through security for a flight to Madrid.
On June 15, he was sentenced to 26 months behind bars at Isleworth Crown Court for gun offences, telling the judge in mitigation that it was “accidental” and “happened because of completely innocent carelessness.”
Judge Robin Johnson jailed the 74-year-old, but accepted that he was a “good man” who had no intention of using the weapon, who had character references from a Nobel laureate for peace, a former ambassador, and the President of the Mexico City Supreme Court.
But on Wednesday, after an appeal brought by Mr Ahumada Otero, judges ruled the initial jail sentence was “manifestly excessive” and ordered his release.
Citing the “very unusual circumstances” of the case, appeal judges replaced the sentence with a total sentence of two years, suspended for two years.
The trial court had heard how the teacher had travelled from Mexico City to Paris and then to London via the Eurostar with the gun, which belonged to him, without it being detected by security.
The gun, which he lawfully possessed in Mexico, was taken to Mexico City to be oiled and serviced because it was too stiff and he had arthritis, he said.
He told police that after returning to Mexico City he asked a maid if she had seen the gun and was told it had probably been left at the cabin, and that he had presumed it was still there because the maid said she could not find it.
Although accepting there were mitigating circumstances, the trial judge said: “Taking a bag onto a scheduled flight with a prohibited weapon and compatible ammunition is clearly a very serious offence.
“In my judgement, even with all the mitigation that is available here a significant custodial sentence must be passed.”
However, appeal judges overturned this, ruling that after “very careful consideration”, they believed “appropriate punishment” could be achieved without an immediate prison sentence.
