A gunman who fired four shots in the street before

A gunman who fired four shots in the street before he was
disarmed by brave police officers was jailed for three
years today (Wed).

A jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court had found jobless
father John Yerrell guilty of having a .

38 Webley revolver and
ammunition in a public place and three other firearms offences.

Yerrell, 24, of the Nye Bevan Estate, Millfields Road,
Clapton, denied the charges.

Passing sentence Judge Lawrence Marshall – who had previously
adjourned the case for reports – told him:
‘If ever a case demonstrated the danger of having a firearm and
ammunition in a public place, this does.

‘You must realise that persons involved in that struggle were
fortunate not to have been injured and you are lucky not to be
facing a much more serious charge.

‘
Judge Marshall jailed Yerrell for three years for having the gun
and ammunition in a public place with concurrent 12 month terms
in relation to three other firearms offences.

The judge commended WPC Sarah Hargreaves, 22, and PC Mark
Lambkin, 29, both attached to West Ham Police Station,
for showing ‘considerable courage in a dangerous situation.

‘
The jury had heard how at about 10.

30pm on May 6 last year police
were called to a disturbance in Tower Hamlets Road, Forest Gate.

PC Lambkin and WPC Hargreaves arrived in a marked van and saw
Yerrell and two other men fighting, said Mr Philip Katz, prosecuting.

‘They were aware of two loud bangs and could see smoke coming
from where the defendant was,’ continued counsel.

Another shot was fired by the time the two officers were close
enough to pull one of the men away.

The court was told how at that stage someone shouted: ‘For f***’s
sake he’s got a gun.

‘
But ‘with considerable bravery’ WPC Hargreaves and PC Lambkin
moved closer and pinned Yerrell down against a car bonnet, said Mr
Katz.

‘They told him to drop the gun but not before he fired it once
again.

‘
The brave officers then managed to disarm and arrest the gunman.

Only two of the six bullets remained unfired.

At Yerrell’s home in a drawer detectives found cartridges
matching those fired from the revolver.

Forensic evidence produced in court during the trial showed that
discharge from the bullets was found on Yerrell’s leather jacket.

And residue from the cartridges was taken from one of the
pockets.

The jury had heard how one of the shots made a hole through a
garage door nearby.

Giving evidence Yerrell had claimed that initially he had been
threatened by one of the men with the gun and during a scuffle had
wrestled it from him.

He agreed that by the time police arrived the weapon had gone off
as they took it off him.

Yerrell maintained that although the same gun and some cartridges
had once been in a drawer at his home, he was not the owner.

Mr Richard Mandel, defending Yerrell, had urged the judge not to
pass a prison sentence that would separate him from his three-year-old
daughter for a lengthy period.

ENDS