Dramatic police chase footage shows 'curious cops' haul down gun-toting drill rapper Rack5 in west London front garden
5 July 2023, 08:50 | Updated: 5 July 2023, 14:17
A gun-wielding rapper has been jailed after police chased him down into a west London property.
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Ellis Heather, 23, was riding in a black Mercedes in Ladbroke Grove while wearing a black open-faced balaclava on October 7, 2022.
Police driving the other way noticed him and thought he looked suspicious, so decided to pull the car over.
But the driver sped away and police gave chase, until the car stopped in St Marks Road. Heather jumped out of the car and ran away.
Police chased him into the front garden of a nearby house, at which point they hauled him down and arrested him.
Man jailed after Met cops recover firearm in Kensington
Heather had thrown away a gun as he ran, but police found it, Forensics officers later proved he had been handling the gun.
The pistol had been made as a blank-and-gas gun, but it had been converted into a viable firearm. It was capable of firing and was loaded with six bullets.
Heather, known as Rack5, pleaded guilty at Isleworth Crown Court in May to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of ammunition without a certificate/authority, and possession of a firearm when prohibited.
He was sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and five years for possession of a prohibited firearm, to run concurrently. Heather was not punished separately for the other charges.
Detective Constable Tom Harris, from the Met's specialist crime command, said: "This is a great example of officers out carrying proactive patrols and acting on their feeling that something was not right.
"As a result of that professional curiosity a lethal firearm has been removed from the streets, no doubt meaning a life has been saved somewhere down the line.
"The Met is utterly committed to bearing down on firearms. Anyone else concerned in the use of them can be assured that they too, like Heather, could find themselves going to prison."
Chief Superintendent Louise Puddefoot, local policing commander for Kensington and Chelsea, said: "As the Commissioner said recently, every day officers step forward into uncertainty, with the sole focus of keeping Londoners safe.
"The team patrolling that day were quick to act on their suspicions and as a result of their tenacity and bravery a lethal weapon is now off of the streets, and London as a result is safer. We’re extremely proud of them."
