Shock discovery as boilermen find gun in Luton house

After the shock discovery, the two men alerted police who raided the property the next day.

And now, a man has been sentenced to five years in prison for illegally possessing a handgun.

David Cooper, 51, of Dewsbury Road, Luton, was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to the offence of possessing a firearm without a licence.

On 7 March, the two workmen attended the address of Cooper to service his boiler.

While there they discovered a bag which they believed contained a gun.

They immediately alerted the police and the next day police carried out a firearms warrant.

Officers found a handgun and a silencer stored on top of the boiler and immediately arrested Cooper.

The bags containing the gun and silencer were forensically examined and found to contain DNA matching Cooper.

Detective Constable Matt Stonnell, investigating officer for the case, said: “Thanks to the information received from the men servicing the boiler, we were able to quickly execute a warrant to seize the weapon and arrest Cooper.

“There is no place for illegal firearms in our society and the fact that Cooper went to some lengths to hide the gun made it clear that he knew he shouldn’t have it.

“Fortunately gun crime remains low in Bedfordshire, but we continue to work hard to reduce it even further and ensure that weapons are seized and offenders jailed before they get chance to cause harm.”