A man who threw a gun from a car window whilst fleeing police has been jailed

Today (1 November) at Manchester Crown Court, Kasper Sims (12.12.1994) of Western Circle, Burnage has been jailed for eight years and six months after pleading guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate and two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

On Friday 18 December 2020 two officers patrolling the Moss Side are of Manchester spotted a white Skoda Fabia on Hartington Street which suddenly drove off at speed towards Princess Road having noticed the patrol car.

As the car fled it narrowly avoided a fence and two cars driving along the road at the time before continuing to weave in and out of traffic in an attempt to flee the officers.

To protect the safety of the public, the pursuit was terminated and the vehicle was last sighted on Bowes Street before driving out of sight of police.

Shortly after the pursuit had ended police received a 999 call from a woman who had been hit by a bag that had been thrown from a vehicle on Broadfield Road. Upon opening the bag she found a black handgun and immediately called police.

Following forensic examination DNA was recovered from the gun that matched that of Casper Simms.

A number of search warrants were sworn out at different addresses linked to Simms, he was located and arrested for firearms offences.

As officers carried out a search of the address, a number of items were seized that officers were believed to be drug dealing paraphernalia, along with an amount of brown powder and wraps of other substances, following analysis, it transpired that this was crack cocaine and heroin. Simms was further arrested whilst in police custody and later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

Detective Constable Graham Parry of GMP's Xcalibre Task Force said: "One of our main priorities is ensuring that the communities of Greater Manchester are kept safe from serious violent crime and thankfully this investigation allowed us to remove yet another lethal weapon from our streets. Anyone could have found the gun after it was thrown from the car window and who knows what tragic consequences that could have resulted in.

"Thankfully today we've also been able to remove another dangerous individual and place him behind bars for the foreseeable, stopping him from committing any potential acts of violence with this dangerous weapon."

Detective Inspector Madeline Kelly, of GMP's Xcalibre Task Force, whose team led the investigation, said: "Thanks to the quick thinking action of this female, we were able to get another weapon of the streets of Manchester and ensure that Casper Simms is no longer a threat to the public. We know that when we seize weapons and ammunition or put someone behind bars, that we can't stop there, and the Xcalibre Task Force will continue pursuing criminals across Manchester to bring them to justice and ensure the safety of the communities we serve."

Anyone with information relating to serious violent crime or weapons is encouraged to contact police on 0161 856 4292 or 101. Information will be treated with the upmost seriousness and sensitivity.

Details can also be passed via our LiveChat function at www.gmp.police.uk or via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.