Jewellery thief jailed after gun and fake cash found in Gucci bag

A man has been jailed for more than five years after he was found with a gun, ammunition and counterfeit cash in a Gucci bag.

Jason Britton was arrested after he was chased near to Glasgow's Hilton hotel on 2 December.

The High Court in Glashow heard that the 35-year-old from Salford, near Manchester, had been in a car with Cade Johnson, 28, of Manchester, who was previously jailed over a firearms plot.

Britton was previously jailed for five years and 10 months in 2015 after he was part of a gang who committed a £230,000 armed heist at Glasgow's Argyll Arcade.

The gang made off with high value watches from the Rox store, but they were caught after two friends were seen wearing the stolen watches.

Britton previously pleaded guilty to two charges of having the firearms without a reasonable excuse or lawful authority.

He also admitted acquiring and possessing £10,285 of criminal property.

Britton was jailed for five years and three months.

The Judge Lord Scott told him: "These offences were motivated wholly or in part with the objective of committing serious organised crime.

"This makes each charge more serious. You are assessed as being at a high risk of re-offending due to the serious risk of harm you pose to the public.

"Having regard to the circumstances, gravity of the crimes and your previous convictions only a custodial sentence is appropriate which is necessary to punish you and deter others."

Johnson was previously jailed for five years and nine months in December 2019 for his involvement in serious organised crime and reset - possessing property acquired dishonestly.

He was caught alongside two others after officers discovered a fake parcel, designed to conceal a pistol, which was addressed to a vet practice at the Forge Retail Park in Glasgow's Parkhead.

Armed police stopped their Mercedes car and recovered a balaclava, £1,000 of counterfeit money, two full cans of petrol, as well as Royal Mail uniforms and bags.

Johnson was given a serious crime prevention order at the sentencing in December 2019 - which he flouted by failing to tell police about his journey to Scotland with Britton in 2025.

He was jailed for two years and seven months during his latest court appearance, after he admitted breaching the order.

The court heard that police did a check on a BMW on 2 December last year which came up as being registered in the Manchester area.

Officers spotted that three people in the vehicle had their hoods up.

The driver was asked to stop the vehicle after sirens and lights had been put on by police.

Prosecutor Adrian Stalker said: "Britton exited from the passenger door and ran towards the Hilton Hotel with a brown Gucci bag.

"He dropped a quantity of £20 notes and proceeded on foot."

Meanwhile, the BMW drove off but stopped again when ordered to by police who turned their lights and sirens back on.

Stalker said: "The constable chased Britton towards the A804 when he fell over a metal railing and dropped another quantity of £20 notes.

"Britton got up and fell again and was apprehended."

Officers found Johnson in the rear passenger side of the vehicle.

Stalker told the court: "No information was given [to police] about his intended travel to Scotland before he was apprehended."

Britton was found still in possession of the Gucci bag which was opened and found to contain a handgun and a quantity of cash.

The handgun was found to be a Turkish manufactured Zoraki model 917-B self-loading pistol.

Officers also discovered modified .380 bulleted cartridges which were "suitable for use with the handgun."

"The handgun was in working order capable of discharging cartridges and self-loading when fired," Stalker added.

The Gucci bag contained £1,060 in cash - most of which was £20 notes.

Britton dropped £3,000 during the pursuit which was also found to be in £20 notes.

A further £6,225 in mixed notes was recovered from an Asda bag under the rear passenger side of the BMW.

Stalker said that the banknotes were examined and "all were found to be counterfeit."

Marco Guarino, defending Britton, told the sentencing: "The sentence is inevitable here and he accepts that.

"There is a reference in his background report saying that he is the victim - this is not quite how the conversation went.

"He was attempting to say there was no direct victim in this particular matter and was referencing himself as he means he got himself into this problem due to the decisions that he made."

Rhonda Anderson, defending Johnson, said: "This is a man who does regret his actions - when the car was stopped, he made no attempt to move.

"He remained with the police and co-operated fully with them.

"His intention was not to become involved in committing any crime but to go for the ride."