A DRUG-DEALER used his flat in Slade Green as his distribution centre, where he kept a loaded gun.

Stephen Baker's operation was discovered when he panicked after he and his nephew were questioned in a car by police, Croydon Crown Court heard.

Baker, aged 38, of Applegarth House, Lincoln Close and his nephew, Darren Morgan-Jones, 23, from Basildon, Essex, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

Baker also pleaded guilty to possession of a Fabrique National gun which had a round in its 5.7cm barrel, four more in the magazine and another 12 rounds in a separate pouch. The gun is prohibited under the Firearms Act.

The court heard two PCs spotted the two men in a parked car in Slade Green and asked them what they were doing.

Baker and Morgan-Jones said they were waiting for friends, then suddenly drove off at speed, ending up in a cul-de-sac, where they got out and ran into an alleyway near Northend Road.

Baker ran into Applegarth House and as officers were banging on his door, he threw the gun and ammunition, wrapped in a towel, out of a rear window but was spotted by a neighbour who told the police.

When the car was searched, officers found more than 82 grammes of cocaine hidden behind the ashtray, £724 in cash and a red book listing prices for the drug which showed that, in seven weeks, Baker had bought 18.5 ounces of the drug at £900 an ounce. Work surfaces and a grinder in the flat had traces of the drug.

Baker claimed he was looking after the gun for someone.

Both were remanded until January for sentencing.

December 19, 2001 16:30