Colchester suspects stand trial for firearms offences

Mark Page and Christopher Cronin appeared at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday where they face firearms offences dating back to 2021.

Page, of Straight Road, Colchester, faces two accusations - one of possessing a prohibited firearm, and one possessing ammunition without a certificate.

Cronin, of no fixed address, is accused of the same offences, but faces two charges of possessing a prohibited firearm.

The case first came to light following a search of a property lived in by Kim Ames in Broom Way, Colchester, in 2021.

It was then police found two pistols inside a box in Ames’s property, and the 62-year-old subsequently admitted to possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition without a firearms certificate.

Ames, who argued she had no knowledge the box contained guns and bullets, was jailed for 18 months.

Now, prosecutors are accusing Page, 54, and Cronin, 56, of arranging for Ames to store the guns and bullets on her property.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Matthew Kirk said a series of phone calls were exchanged in the minutes after police searched Ames’s property.

He said: “Cronin had used Page as an intermediary to contact Ames and make the arrangements [to store the guns].

“There is a schedule of all the times there was contact between any of these three people - at 2pm in February 2021 [after the police search], Ames tried to call Page; seconds later, Page returned the call.

“Minutes earlier, Ames had tried to call her husband.

“Over the next hour, there is a flurry of calls and texts between Cronin and Page, and between Ames and Page – the search of the property leads to a flurry of contact between the three people.”

Mr Kirk also described how forensic evidence linked the guns to Page and Cronin.

“The pistol [found by police] had DNA attributable to Cronin on the trigger guard.

“[Another pistol] has DNA attributable to Page on it in various locations.”

The case continues.