TWO wannabe heroes who flouted the law by carrying a gun have avoided jail terms today.Lesselle Dunkley, of Orwell Gardens, Ipswich and Lloyd Williams, of Birkfield Drive, Ipswich, found themselves in the centre of an armed siege as police stormed a property in a Kesgrave cul-de-sac on December 9.

TWO wannabe heroes who flouted the law by carrying a gun have avoided jail terms today.

Lesselle Dunkley, of Orwell Gardens, Ipswich and Lloyd Williams, of Birkfield Drive, Ipswich, found themselves in the centre of an armed siege as police stormed a property in a Kesgrave cul-de-sac on December 9.

Gareth Davies, prosecuting, told South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court the duo had gone there with Williams' girlfriend and her sister after the sister became concerned about four men in her Glanville Place house who had been “describing how they were going to come to Ipswich and start to run things.”

Williams called his pal, Dunkley, who was persuaded to come along and bring his ball bearing (BB) gun for “dissuading” purposes.

Ian Duckworth, mitigating, said: “They were probably not thinking really about the consequences of what they were doing. They were trying to be knights in shining armour coming to the rescue. In the end it didn't turn out they were needed.”

The court heard Williams, 21, and the sisters, Gemma and Danielle Peake, were picked up by a taxi driver at 3.15am in Downside Close, in the Stoke Park area of Ipswich. The group then decided to pick up Dunkley, 21, for “physical backup”.

Mr Davies said: “The taxi driver noticed the top of the air pistol sticking out of the top of Mr Dunkley's pocket and he was really quite jittery.”

The taxi driver later called the police and armed officers arrived there around 4am. The area was cordoned off, leaving residents stuck in their homes while negotiators spoke to the eight people inside the flat who came out voluntarily just before 9.30am.

A BB gun was then recovered from the top of a wardrobe in the house but it was discovered it was unable to fire because it was missing vital components.

Williams and Dunkley both pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm in a public place and were sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for one year. Dunkley was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £55 in costs.

Williams was also given a 12 month supervision order, told to complete the Think First programme and 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £55 in costs. The other six people involved in the siege have since been told there will be no charges against them.

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