A dealer who ran a drugs line in Chatham has been jailed after hiding a sawn-off shotgun in a wheelie bin.

Marlon Kirlew, of Arcus Road, Bromley, was jailed for seven years and six months’ at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday.

The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm when prohibited for life at the same court on Friday, 22 November.

Michelle Sutcliffe, 34, of Lester Road, Chatham, also pleaded guilty on the same date to possession of a firearm. She will be sentenced on a date yet to be scheduled.

It follows a complex investigation led by the Metropolitan police's Trident and Area Crime Command, now part of the Specialist Crime unit.

In August 2017, police executed a warrant at a flat in in Stuart Road, Gillingham where a woman in her 50s answered the door and confirmed she lived there.

Officers searched the property and discovered a red plastic CEX bag inside a wheelie bin which contained a sawn-off shotgun and two cartridges.

The occupant told officers she did not know who the items belonged to or how they got there and the firearm was confiscated and sent off for forensic analysis.

Kirlew was observed having a heated argument with a red-haired woman - now known to be Sutcliffe - in Gillingham High Street the day prior.

Shortly afterwards, Kirlew was seen getting out of a white vehicle in Stuart Road, where the weapon was discovered, and later picked the same woman up.

A forensics report indicated there was DNA present on the tape wrapped around the buttstock of the shotgun which could be linked to the suspects with further testing.

Direct comparisons from the two suspects were submitted for evaluation but there was a time delay due to the nature of the DNA samples.

In the meantime, detectives continued to carry out inquiries and on Tuesday, April 10, 2018 Sutcliffe - who used to live at the address in Stuart Road - was arrested on suspicion of possession a firearm.

Sutcliffe told officers she was seeing a man who worked on a drugs line in the Chatham area, which was run by a man called Tyrone.

She later identified Tyrone as being Kirlew after she was shown a photograph of him. The man she was seeing used to stay at the address in Stuart Road when he was dealing for Kirlew.

In her interview, Sutcliffe said she found a gun hidden in a bag behind the sofa in Stuart Road the night before the warrant was carried out.

She told officers she took the gun out the bag to examine it but later backtracked on this statement and said she had found it a week before.

Sutcliffe tried to shift the blame onto others by telling interviewers that the man she was seeing put the gun in the house and that it belonged to Kirlew.

She said she was angry when she found it and, instead of contacting the police, she called the man she was seeing to tell him to get rid of it.

Kirlew was then arrested on Thursday August 2, 2018 and answered no comment to all questions put to him.

When the results from forensics came back they showed the DNA sample taken from the shotgun was a near certain match - at least one in a billion times to be Kirlew.

In addition, a sample taken from the trigger found the DNA discovered was more than a million times likely to have come from the same man.

Kirlew and Sutcliffe were charged on Thursday, September 26, 2019 and convicted.

The court heard that Kirlew has previous firearms convictions, including three offences of armed robbery in 2003 and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence, which resulted in him being prohibited for life for owning a firearm.

On March 26, 2019, Kirkew was sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment at Maidstone Crown Court for possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply.

His sentence for the firearms offences will start once he has completed his current prison term.

DC Iain Logan, the investigating officer, said: “There is no hiding from the fact that had we not taken this shotgun and ammunition off the streets, it could have been used to cause serious injury or even worse, death.

“These convictions are a result of extremely hard work by the team, who worked tirelessly to secure evidence against Kirlew and Sutcliffe. In the end, the evidence was so strong they had no choice but to plead guilty.

“Sutcliffe knowingly agreed to harbour a deadly weapon for Kirlew, which is an extremely serious offence.

"Anyone who is or is thinking about storing a gun, or helping to hide them from the police, are directly contributing to gun crime and the devastating affect it has on communities and families.

“I want the public to be reassured that even during these challenging times, Met officers are working tirelessly - day and night - to identify and pursue offenders, help bring perpetrators to justice and take weapons off the streets.

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