A binman spotted a revolver where it had been stashed beneath a car in Oxford, a court heard.

The public-spirited refuse worker called mayday on May Day, having discovered the shooter as crowds dispersed on Cowley Road after 6am.

And on Monday (October 9), the man believed to have left the gun – Yasin Hamid – was handed a five-year jail sentence.

He was jailed after abandoning a basis of plea, entered at a hearing in August, when he claimed to have been holding onto the converted starter pistol under duress.

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Sentencing, judge Recorder Andrew Mcloughlin slammed the implausible account put forward in the basis of plea – but noted he had shown some remorse for what he had done.

The judge said: “I’ve had the benefit of reading your letter, which I take at face value, showing some remorse for the matter that you’ve pleaded guilty to, of course abandoning your – frankly – utterly unbelievable basis of plea.”

Oxford Mail: The black revolver recovered from beneath a vehicle in Oxford Picture: Thames Valley PoliceThe black revolver recovered from beneath a vehicle in Oxford Picture: Thames Valley Police (Image: Thames Valley Police)

Earlier, Oxford Crown Court was shown multiple pieces of CCTV footage showing Hamid seemingly locked in an argument with another group of men in Cowley Road, near Manzil Way, after 5.30am on May 1.

He disappeared down a side alley with two other men, and could be seen speaking urgently to them.

A revolver and ammunition, kept in a shoulder-slung ‘manbag’, was later recovered from beneath a vehicle where it was spotted by an eagle-eyed refuse collector, who called the police.

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Hamid, of Pound Way, Oxford, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition.

His basis of plea, entered at the same time as his guilty pleas, was not pursued.

Oxford Mail: Yasin Hamid's police mugshot. He has now been jailed for five years Picture: Thames Valley PoliceYasin Hamid's police mugshot. He has now been jailed for five years Picture: Thames Valley Police (Image: Thames Valley Police)

Jailing him for five years, Recorder Mcloughlin told the defendant it was fortunate that ‘better sense’ had prevailed from those around him on May Day.

“I have seen lengthy footage of there being, possibly, some drunken argument taking place between you and others,” he told Hamid.

“Fortunately, you had some sense and put the weapon back from where it came and, after lengthy discussion and arguments, you’ve gone back [and] recovered that weapon.

"Of course, we can’t avoid the fact there was a risk of someone else locating that weapon.

“And then, readily having been persuaded to take a different course of action, you sought to rid yourself of it.”

There were no exceptional circumstances in the case or in Hamid’s personal mitigation that meant he should not be given the minimum five year prison sentence set down by law, the judge added.

Recorder Mcloughlin imposed five years’ imprisonment and ordered the gun and ammunition should be forfeit to the police.