New bed in jail for man who hid guns in mattress

A man has been jailed for nine years after a loaded pistol and sawn-off shotgun were found hidden inside a mattress.

Nathan Rochester, from Nottinghamshire, was arrested at his Radcliffe on Trent home on Saturday 8 July.

Officers from the East Midlands Operational Support Service (EMOpSS), raided the address in Shelford Road after intelligence there were firearms being kept there.

The search team found a red bandana, a sawn-off shotgun, two cartridges and a self-loading pistol, which had a single bullet in its chamber, inside a slit in a mattress.

He had also adapted a blank bullet to make it “live”. A further bullet for the handgun was also discovered in a bag under the kitchen sink.

The 26-year-old, previously of Shelford Road in Radcliffe-on-Trent, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm.

At Nottingham Crown Court on Monday 4 September 2017 he was sentenced to five years on each count, to serve concurrently. He was also jailed for a further four years in relation to two possession with intent to supply Class A drugs offences. This concerned his arrest in February 2015 after a quantity of heroin and crack cocaine was found during a warrant at an address in Aspley, Nottingham. Rochester failed to attend his trial and had been on the run from authorities ever since. He will now spend up to nine years behind bars.

Rushcliffe Neighbourhood Inspector Craig Berry said: