Leiston man Mason Squirrell jailed at Ipswich Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm

A 26-year-old man from Leiston has been jailed for five years after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm, class A drugs and a knuckleduster.

Mason Squirrell was sentenced at Ipswich Crown yesterday after handing himself in to police on November 10 last year.

When Squirrell's home address in Seaward Avenue, Leiston was searched Suffolk Police found one kilo's worth of cocaine with an estimated street value of between £80,000 to £100,000.

Officers also found a Ekol Dicle pistol and cannabis.

Dc Kevyn Durrant of Lowestoft CID said: "This was a case where Squirrell’s involvement in drugs started out relatively small but soon spiralled, leaving in him in thousands of pounds worth of debt and gradually becoming more heavily involved in dealing, selling and taking drugs himself.

"The message is clear – getting involved in drugs at any level simply doesn’t pay and can only end in misery, debt and a criminal record."

Squirrell was sentenced to five years for the firearm offence, 40 months for the possession with intent to supply drugs offences and four months for the cannabis offences.

He was also sentenced to four months for the possession of the knuckleduster - these sentences will all run concurrently.