A GRANDFATHER who hid a handgun and deadly bullets under a haystack in his garden has had his jail sentence more than doubled by top judges.

Police found the loaded and "potentially lethal" Luger 9mm pistol at the home of 58-year-old Joseph Wright in Burnhope in County Durham.

Wright, of Holmside Lane, was jailed for 18 months at Durham Crown Court by Recorder Bryan Cox QC in July after he pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and prohibited ammunition.

But three senior judges at London's Appeal Court today upheld a bid by Solicitor General, Oliver Heald QC, to have Wright's jail term upped to five years, after accepting his original sentence was "unduly lenient". Lady Justice Hallett said Wright was spotted pulling a metal box from under a haystack while police searched his home in April.

It contained a 9mm Luger PO8 pistol with six rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber and 15 loose rounds, all wrapped inside a felt cloth, she added.

Wright told officers he had found the gun two months earlier and hid it, but claimed he planned to hand it to police through intermediaries.

He was arrested and, in a prepared statement, told police he found the metal box while working on his land and thought it was a part of his father's collection of Second World War memorabilia. Wright claimed he was afraid to contact police about the weapon because he thought they would not believe his explanation.

A pre-sentence report revealed Wright displayed "significant cognitive impairment" and suffered from diabetes, which affected his eyesight and hearing.

Today, (Friday, October 4) the Solicitor General's lawyers argued that Recorder Cox erred in finding that Wright's health problems made his case "exceptional" enough to resist handing him the five-year minimum jail term usually applied for firearms possession.

Lady Justice Hallett, sitting with Mr Justice Saunders and Judge Martyn Zeidman QC, concluded: "The recorder was clearly wrong to do so. He placed far too much weight on the offender's physical and mental condition.

“He was in possession of a potentially lethal weapon.

"The facts of this case do not come close to pointing to exceptional circumstances - on any view thesentence was unduly lenient.”