Gun supply school helper jailed

A London primary school teaching assistant who led a double life as a gun converter and supplier has been jailed for more than two years.

Tyrone Cox, 26, from north London, converted starter pistols used in sport into lethal weapons in his shed and supplied them to criminals.

Cox, from Balmoral Road, Enfield, pleaded guilty to firearms offences at Wood Green Crown Court in May.

His accomplice, Lewis Monk, of Chadwell Avenue, Enfield, was also jailed.

Cox, who police say was the "key player", was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Monk, 22, who also pleaded guilty to firearms offences in May, was sentenced to 25 months.

During the week, Cox worked as a teaching assistant at a primary school in Islington, in north London, helping to teach three to five-year-olds.

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However, in his spare time, he used his skills as a trained metal-worker to manufacture lethal weapons from blank firers, police said.

Cox enlisted the help of Lewis Monk to distribute the converted weapons.

On 7 May, Cox and Monk both pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court to possession and distribution of firearms and ammunition and to conspiracy to convert firearms and ammunition.

"This operation has resulted in converted guns and ammunition being taken out of circulation and has potentially prevented a number of serious injuries or even deaths occurring on the streets of London," said Det Chief Insp Clive Stevens.

"It is impossible to overestimate the misery and fear these weapons could have brought if they had got into the hands of those seeking to use them."