Police investigating the theft of a Mercedes found the buyer of the stolen car in possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

Andrew Ross originally claimed he found the weapon, together with ammunition, in the boot of the £30,000 car only an hour before police turned up and arrested him.

The 23-year-old, who admitted buying the stolen luxury vehicle for £500, later said he was keeping the gun for someone else then changed his story to say he had bought it for his protection.

Because of the Government's crackdown on gun crime, unemployed Ross, of Weardale Avenue, Seaburn, Sunderland, received a mandatory five-year sentence after he admitted possessing a prohibited firearm. He must serve two years concurrently after admitting handling the stolen car.

His barrister, Robert Woodcock, said Ross had a paranoid mental condition.

Judge David Wood said: "The only purpose that exists for a sawn-off shotgun is in order to kill people, maim people or terrify people. I don't know any other purpose."