Eccles man who threw machete out of window of stolen car after police chase jailed for firearms and drug offences

A man from Salford has been jailed for over five years after he was arrested following a pursuit this summer by cops from the city's taskforce to tackle organised crime.

Kie Connor, 19, from Eccles was sentenced on Wednesday 1 December at Manchester Crown Court to five-and-a-half years behind bars after admitting 10 offences including firearms and drug offences.

It concluded a thorough investigation this summer by detectives at Swinton CID that saw officers recover firearms, ammunition and drugs at addresses that were linked to the teenager. 

Investigators from GMP Salford's Operation Naseby team began their inquiry into Connor after executing a firearms warrant at his address following intelligence that had been received.

At the property, we found a Grand Power firearm loaded with live bullets in a locked shed in the back yard - as well as over 100 blank rounds, live round-coverting equipment, and cannabis.

Connor was not at the property at the time but officers continued to make enquiries based on the evidence they had found at his residence.

He was eventually arrested three weeks later on Sunday 8 August when he was spotted in Eccles driving a stolen white BMW on cloned plates before being pursued for around 10 minutes by our Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit.

During the chase, Connor hit speeds of nearly 60mph - as well as driving on the pavement and on the road side of the road - before he was brought to a stop.

As he ran from officers, the 19-year-old then threw a machete out of the car window before later discarding his car keys into the front garden of a nearby property.

Connor surrendered after officers caught him up during the foot chase and he was taken to custody to be questioned on suspicion of a number of offences.

Further enquiries then linked him to an address on Fir Street, where a search of the backyard discovered a shotgun.

Aimee Paterson, 24, who lives at the property was arrested and has now been sentenced to a 12-month community order after admitting possession of a shotgun without a certificate.

Evidence seized from Connor's phone was key to prove our case that he was in possession of the firearm recovered from his shed, and the drugs recovered from his address.

The content of the handset also painted a picture of his involvement in serious and organised criminality, and linked him to the shotgun found in Paterson's back yard.

Connor pleaded guilty to all 10 offences he was charged with; including dangerous driving, handling stolen goods, possession of an offensive weapon, possession of a shotgun without a certificate, possession of a section 5 firearm, and possession of class B drugs.

He's now been jailed for five-and-a-half years.

The result concludes the latest great bit of work by our dedicated team tackling organised crime in Salford - which has driven down shootings, made over 225 arrests, and got a large number of targets behind bars.

The team - formed in April 2020 to disrupt organised criminality in the city - has recently been funded with a further £95,000 to continue the assault on offenders, which you can read more about here: Extra funding for Salford operation driving down organised crime in city | Greater Manchester Police (gmp.police.uk)