A Bromley drug dealer has been jailed for gun possession after a sawn-off shotgun was stashed in a woman’s wheelie bin without her knowledge.

Marlon Kirlew, 34, of Arcus Road, was convicted after the weapon was linked to him through the girlfriend of an associate and DNA.

On August 9, 2017, police executed a warrant at a flat on Stuart Road, Gillingham.

A woman, aged in her 50s, answered the door, confirming she lived in the flat.

On searching the property, officers found a red plastic bag inside a courtyard wheelie bin, containing a sawn off shotgun and two cartridges.

The occupant told officers she did not know who the items belonged to or how they got there.

The day before the warrant was executed, Kirlew was observed having a heated argument with a woman with red hair – now known to be 34-year-old Michelle Sutcliffe – on High Street, Gillingham.

Shortly afterwards, he was seen getting out of a white vehicle in Stuart Road.

A forensics report highlighted there was DNA present on the tape wrapped around the buttstock of the shotgun, and comparisons were submitted for evaluation for named suspects Kirlew and Sutcliffe.

In the meantime, detectives continued to carry out enquiries and, on April 10, Sutcliffe – who formerly lived at the Stuart Road address - was arrested on suspicion of firearm possession.

Sutcliffe told officers she was seeing a man who worked on a drugs line in the Chatham area, which was run by a man called Tyrone, who she later identified as Kirlew.

The man she was seeing used to stay at the address on Stuart Road when dealing for Kirlew.

In her interview, Sutcliffe said she found a gun hidden in a bag behind the sofa in Stuart Road, telling officers the man she was seeing put the gun in the house and that it belonged to Kirlew.

She said she was angry when she found it and, instead of contacting the police, she called the man she was seeing, telling him to get rid of it.

Kirlew was arrested on August 2, 2018, and answered no comment to all questions put to him.

Forensic results conclusively linked the gun to him.

Kirlew and Sutcliffe were charged in September 2019 and were both convicted for firearms possession.

The court heard that Kirlew has previous firearms convictions, including three offences of armed robbery in 2003 and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence, which resulted in him being prohibited for life for owning a firearm.

On March 26, 2019, Kirkew further was sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment at Maidstone Crown Court for possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply.

His sentence for the firearms offences will start once he has completed his current prison term.

Detective Constable Iain Logan, the investigating officer, said: ““Sutcliffe knowingly agreed to harbour a deadly weapon for Kirlew, which is an extremely serious offence.

"Anyone who is or is thinking about storing a gun, or helping to hide them from the police, are directly contributing to gun crime and the devastating affect it has on communities and families.

“Firearms have absolutely no place on our streets and every time officers remove one, it makes London, and the UK, a safer place for all.”