Gang who planned major organised crime involving guns in Glasgow jailed for more than 18 years

Richard Carty, Ezekial Aremu and Cade Johnson were found in possession of pistols, fake council uniforms and counterfeit cash after they were arrested in a dramatic armed swoop outside the Forge shopping centre

Members of a gang which was planning a major crime in Glasgow involving guns and Royal Mail uniforms have been jailed for a total of 18 years and three months.

Ezekial Aremu and Cade Johnston were halted by police in a dramatic armed swoop outside the Forge shopping centre .

A third member of the gang Richard Carty was snared at an Airbnb in Springfield Gardens, Glasgow, with two pistols and live ammunition, but claimed he was in the city for a painting and decorating job.

At the High Court in Glasgow Carty, 38, from Salford, Manchester, Aremu, 21, and Johnson, 21, from Prestwich, Bury, all admitted their part in a conspiracy to become involved in a serious organised crime in Glasgow in March this year.

Sentencing the three judge Lord Arthurson said: “The targets have not been identified but it must have involved the use of disguises and the use of firearms.”

Lord Arthurson said all three men were assessed as being at significant risk of re-offending.

Carty was jailed for six years and six months, Aremu for six years and Johnston for five years and nine months.

Prosecutor Murdo McTaggart said: “The evidence in this case shows that the Carty and Aremu were involved in the planning and preparation for a serious crime involving the use of a firearm with live ammunition.

“Aremu's position is that he was not going to be involved in the ultimate use of the weapons.

“Johnson was involved in the planning and preparation for a serious crime, although it is accepted he was not aware of the presence of the firearms.”

The court heard that a massive police operation began with police monitoring the movements of the three who stayed at the Airbnb from March 7 into March 8.

At 12.08pm Aremu and Johnston and another man were stopped by armed police as they drove a grey Mercedes car along East Wellington Street near the Forge shopping centre.

The occupants were removed from the car at gunpoint and detained. The car contained a balaclava in the passenger footwell, £1,000 of counterfeit £20 notes in the glove boxes and two cans full of petrol were in the boot.

At 3pm armed police went to the flat in Springfield Gardens where they found Carty.

He was asked if there were any firearms and replied: “There is maybe something in a bag in there.”

In the bedroom police found a holdall which contained a Luger pistol and six live cartridges and parts of a Glock pistol.

Also found were Royal Mail uniforms and bags and Glasgow City Council hi-vis vests.

Carty's DNA and Aremu's fingerprints and were found on the holdall and on a box that had been specially adapted to hold a gun.

Prosecutor McTaggart said: “In one of the Royal Mail bags was a cardboard box addressed to a vets practice at the Forge Retail Park in Glasgow.

“The box had been adapted so that a handgun could be concealed in and readily accessed from it.”

He added: “The target or targets have not been identified by the police, but the serious crime intended must have involved the use of disguises – a postman and a Glasgow City employee – with the intention of evading security of avoiding suspicion, to enable a place or person to be approached without suspicion.”

Graham Robertson, defence counsel for Carty said: “My client says he only touched the guns out of curiosity. He initially though he was coming to Glasgow for painting and decorating jobs.”

Defence counsel for the other two accused claimed that their clients had suspicions, but did not know anything about the actual crime being planned.