Shotguns found in van after police dog caught man who fled into graveyard

THERE WAS ALSO 'A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF LIVE AMMUNITION'

- By MARK NAYLOR

POLICE found two highly dangerous sawn-off shotguns - and a large amount of live ammunition - after following and searching a van that had been used for criminal activities.

The police had been alerted by shocked residents who suddenly spotted two men smashing a window at an empty property.

The masked men later fled from the van but a police dog caught up with and detained one of them after he ran into a graveyard, Hull Crown Court heard. Neil Spencer, 41, who was in custody on remand, admitted two offences of possessing a prohibited firearm on April 17.

David Godfrey, prosecuting, said that, shortly before midnight, residents of Goddard Avenue, west Hull, saw two men, one of them Spencer, smash the bottom window of an unoccupied property. One of them was holding a metal pole and the other was holding something that had been stolen.

Guns were seen. The men, wearing dark clothes and masks, drove off in the van. A cannabis factory was found inside the house, including lighting and ventilation.