Two men found with a loaded gun and a clown mask near the M40 service station

Two men have been jailed after they were found with a loaded gun and a “sinister” clown mask at Warwick Services. Police said the gun found was used in a shooting just a month earlier in September 2023.

Akelle Charles, 33, and Ricardo Thomas, 33, were arrested after the loaded gun and mask were found in the trunk of a rental car in October 2023. Investigations revealed the weapon had been used previously in a shooting in London.

Officers also found 15 rounds of ammunition, West Midlands Police said. Charles and Thomas had traveled from London to Wolverhampton on October 26, the day before the two were arrested.

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Charles and Thomas made a stop on Cannock Road in Wolverhampton on October 27 before heading up the M40. Police said the “dangerous” duo stopped at Warwick Services where they were arrested at around 9pm.

Police said the loaded gun, which was recovered from a Nike bag, was forensically examined and linked to bullet casings left at the scene of a London shooting. Charles’ home was just over two miles from the scene of the shooting, although there was no evidence linking him to the incident, West Midlands Police said.

Conversations recovered from the phones of Charles and Thomas suggested both had a strong involvement and knowledge of firearms, West Midlands Police said. Charles, of St Annes Road, Wolverhampton, and Thomas, of Devonport Road, London, admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition at Birmingham Crown Court.

Yesterday (May 7), Thomas was jailed for eight years and Charles was jailed for six years and nine months, West Midlands Police said. Officers said the convictions were part of an “ongoing fight” against serious crime in the West Midlands.

Detective Inspector Amar Patel, from the West Midlands Regional Organized Crime Unit, said: “Akelle Charles and Ricardo Thomas were returning to London at the time of their arrest with a loaded firearm, gloves and a mask in a hire car on someone else’s name. . We’ll never know what their plans were, but we took a loaded gun and two dangerous people off the streets.”

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