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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
John Scheerhout

Gun gangster jailed

AN unarmed cop who chased and arrested a dangerous gangster with a loaded gun said he never worried about being shot.

The detectives were watching a restaurant in Rusholme where a private Jamaican party was in full swing when they saw gangster Ricardo Chambers turn up at the door.

The plain-clothes officers watched as Chambers refused to be searched and was turned away.

They became suspicious, chased him and cornered him in an alleyway.

A search revealed he had thrown away a gun with nine bullets in the magazine which was found in a nearby garden.

Tearful Chambers, a member of Moss Side's notorious Gooch gang, was jailed for seven-and-half years at Manchester Crown Court today.

One of the cops said: "I knew it was serious from the way he was sweating. I detained him and kept a good hold of him until back-up arrived. We knew he had some weapons or drugs on him because of the way he was behaving and that's why we decided to turn his pockets out.

"We chased him down an alleyway. He was sweating like and he was really nervous. We found a loaded pistol in a back garden under a car baby seat. He's thrown it in there."

Asked if he feared being shot, the officer said: "No, not really. You don't think about that otherwise you would never chase anybody. It didn't cross my mind. It crossed my mind afterwards what could have happened but it doesn't stop you doing what you've got to do.

"This sentence will send out a strong message. I don't have any sympathy for him. If he wants to carry guns and drugs around with him he's got to accept the consequences. He's a grown man."

Chambers, 20, of Alexandra Avenue, Moss Side, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply.

Police swooped after they saw him acting suspiciously on October 14 last year as he tried to get into a private party at Tabak restaurant on Wilmslow Road

He refused to be searched and so wasn't allowed into the restaurant.

He was chased and finally cornered in an alleyway off Ravensdale Street.

Officers searched him and his gun was found nearby.

He was arrested and taken to Longsight police station where a more thorough search uncovered a small bag hidden in his sock which contained 10 rocks of crack cocaine.

Forensic evidence proved Chambers had handled the gun.

The firearm was originally made to fire blanks but had been converted and was found to contain nine bullets.

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