Gun-carrying pop star 'relieved' by 18-month jail term
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A teenage member of the notorious So Solid Crew garage collective was sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders' institution yesterday after being caught with a gun he had bought for protection.
Ashley Walters, 19, was arrested with the Magnum look-alike weapon after an altercation with a traffic warden in central London over an expired time limit on a meter.
The musician – who had been told by a judge to expect a custodial sentence for the crime, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years – was said to be "greatly relieved".
Lawyers and character witnesses for Walters, a child actor from south London who has performed in television programmes including Grange Hill and The Bill, claimed he became a target for youths who were jealous of his success.
Simon Pentol, for the defence, said Walters was a "universally well-liked, charming and well-mannered" young man but lived on an estate "notorious for violence and guns".
"In light of his fears for himself and his family, he felt he had no choice but to get a weapon as well," Mr Pentol said. "For a large number of young people guns are the order of the day."
Walters's mother, Pamela, a local government worker, spoke of her mounting fear over her only child's safety as he received threatening text messages and letters. On one occasion she was summoned to hospital after the teenager "nearly lost his life" when two men smashed a bottle over his head and stabbed him in the neck with the broken glass.
"I don't condone him possessing a firearm," she said. "I know he knows that is wrong – but I do understand his fear."
The court heard that Walters, who uses the stage name Asher D, bought the gun, a converted Brocock ME38 air pistol with five rounds of live ammunition, from a man he met in a nightclub for £1,300 in cash.
Three months later, on 30 July last year, he was arrested after a verbal exchange with a traffic warden, Olufemi Onakeko, who was so concerned he called the police.
Judge Geoffrey Rivlin told Walters that despite the threats he had "no possible justification" for having the firearm. "There must be protection for everyone from gun offences... and this must include the protection courts can provide by imposing sentences of custody."