12 years' jail for duo with drugs and guns in Battersea flat

Two men are starting 12-year jail sentences today for dealing crack cocaine and heroin and possession of a haul of weapons including an Uzi sub-machinegun.

Gerald Simpson, 33, and Jerome Nelson, 31, were jailed at Southwark crown court.

Simpson was arrested in October last year in a raid on a flat in Battersea. Police found electronic scales, £21,000 cash, dozens of bags containing traces of white powder, crack cocaine and a metal drugs press containing a 1kg block of heroin as well as a small green suitcase containing the Uzi, a Glock pistol and a converted Kimar model '85 automatic pistol.

Nelson, identified as a close associate of Simpson, was arrested in January. Simpson, of Stockwell, pleaded guilty to the drugs and firearms offences at an earlier hearing. Nelson, of Streatham, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms. He had previously admitted a charge of heroin possession.