Jailed: Shrewsbury shotgun man in three-hour stand-off with police

Jeffrey Page was seen with a loaded shotgun close to Severn Pitches at Shrewsbury Sports Village, causing police to descend on the area.

More than 10 police firearms were involved in the siege on October 28 last year, Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.

The court heard yesterday that the stand-off began at about 10.20am and saw the woodland cordoned off by police in the interests of public safety.

Mr Philip Beardwell, prosecuting, said the shotgun had been obtained a few days earlier by someone entitled to have the weapon but it had somehow come into the possession of 43-year-old Page.

He said there was a police armed siege situation until about 1.05pm as officers tried talking with Page .

Mr Beardwell said: "He made it clear he wished the police to shoot him or he wished to kill himself with the gun."

Page was disarmed, without the use of any taser, and taken into custody.

He later told police he had taken crack cocaine the night before and had still been under the influence of the class A drug when he went out that day.

Page, who lives in Ferndale Road next to the sports village in Sundorne, admitted possession of a loaded shotgun in a public place without authority, possessing a firearm without a certificate and possession of cannabis.

Mr Brendan Reedy, representing Page, said he had been suffering from depression for a long time and was now taking anti-depressants. He said Page had only been contemplating killing himself.

He told the court: "This really was out of character for him. This is very much a one-off situation and is extremely unlikely to be ever committed again.

"He has every incentive to carry on taking his medication."

Sentencing Page, Judge Jim Tindal said: "I think you still think that this incident wasn't as serious as clearly I do."

He said Page was seen by a witness running around with the gun, adding: "You loaded a gun with the intention of killing yourself but you did so in a public place where an accident could have easily led to your death or someone else getting hurt."

He handed Page a 12-month prison sentence for possessing a loaded shotgun in a public place and a six-month jail term for each of the other offences, running concurrently.

During the stand-off, more than 25 police vehicles descended on the area and were then joined by a number of armed officers, with body armour, shields, rifles and sub-machine guns.