A young man has been jailed for six years and six months after being caught with a loaded revolver. 

Marlon Barnes, 20, of Ramsbury Avenue Penhill was at a house in Swindon when it was raided by police 

Inside officers found wraps of heroin and crack cocaine and £2,500 in cash as well as the loaded gun - an automatic smooth-bore revolver capable of firing two or more rounds without repeated pressure on the trigger - inside a drawer. 

Barnes was charged with being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine and possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine, as well as possession of the prohibited firearm and ammunition. 

He pleaded guilty to all charges and appeared at Bristol Crown Court for sentencing on June 27. 

His defence counsel, Emma Thacker, told the court that Barnes was an intelligent and polite young man who loved his mother. 

She added that he was part of the traveller community but had struggled with rejection from it because of his ethnicity. 

"His mother sits at the back of court, with his girlfriend, who have come to support him," she pointed out. 

While sympathetic to Barnes because of his age, and reported intelligence, His Honour Judge James Townsend told the defendant that his crimes were 'very serious.' 

"I have to sentence you for what you have accepted was very serious offending involving both drugs and firearms," he said.

"A police raid on your address resulted in a large quantity of wraps of Class A drugs being seized, as well as lists, scales and other items related to drug dealing. 

"And then wrapped in a sock,  a revolver with seven light rounds of ammunition in it.

"And so there's no doubt you have significantly involved yourself in the sale of these Class A drugs via a drug line, not suggesting you were at the top of the tree, you weren't.

"And on top of that, a gun was in your possession, at a house, that was involved in drug dealing, and it was obviously available for use. You, yourself I accept, did not use the firearm at all, but it was there and others might have had access to it as well."

Full credit was given for early guilty pleas and the defendant's age - being only 20 - when he deliberated on the sentencing. 

He sentenced Barnes to 5 years in prison for possession of the firearm and ammunition, and 18 months for the drugs matters, totalling 6 years and 6 months, to be served in a young offenders institution.