Solicitor's crime partner jailed

Hersi arrived in the UK from Somalia as an asylum seeker

A gang leader who used a corrupt lawyer to try to escape justice has been jailed for five years.

Ahmed Osman Hersi, 29, was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court the day after solicitor Naveen Sagar, 32, was sentenced to fourteen and a half years.

Hersi, of Southall, west London, used Naveen to provide false alibis for his gang which made millions of pounds selling heroin and used firearms.

He pleaded guilty to several charges of firearms possession and drugs.

Hersi first met Naveen from Wembley, north-west London, in March 2003.

Between them, Hersi and Sagar were responsible for the running of a criminal network that supplied drugs and guns on a large scale Det Ch Insp Peter Beyer

He used the corrupt solicitor in October 2004 when he was stopped with £32,000 cash in a shoe box in his car - the proceeds of the sale of 0.5kg of heroin.

Sagar concocted a scam and provided a false alibi and witness who claimed he had given Hersi the money to buy a car.

When the cash was returned, Sagar was paid £5,000.

The police operation targeting Hersi's gang recovered 4kg of heroin, 280 "rocks" of crack cocaine, two machine pistols, five semi-automatic handguns, one Brocock revolver and £300,000 in cash.

Det Ch Insp Peter Beyer said: "Between them, Hersi and Sagar were responsible for the running of a criminal network that supplied drugs and guns on a large scale."

He pleaded guilty to various charges including conspiracy to possess firearms, possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.