A BIKER was found with a sawn-off shotgun at his home following a police raid sparked by a tip-off.

Officers had been sent to arrest James Brown, 51, who was alleged to have broken a restraining order, but on the way received a call to say that he had a gun.

Armed police searched Brown’s home in Hurstingstone, St Ives, on October 29 last year and found a modified Herstal 12 Gauge shotgun – with a sawn-off barrel and butt – and around 60 shotgun cartridges.

At Peterborough Crown Court on Monday (April 16) Brown was said to have links with the Outlaws motorcycle gang.

The court was told that Brown had claimed to have been given the gun by a friend to destroy a few weeks prior to the raid, but a witness claimed to have seen it a year earlier when he helped Brown move from Felixstowe.

Brown had been due in court for sentencing but did not turn up as he had been discharged from Hinchingbrooke Hospital, the court heard.

He has been rescheduled to appear at Huntingdon Crown Court on May 18 for a ‘Newton’ hearing where a judge will decide how long Brown had been in possession of the gun.

Brown admitted possessing a prohibited gun at a hearing at Peterborough Crown Court on March 16.