A South Norwood teenager who was a suspect in the murder of James Andre Smartt Ford has been jailed for gun running.

Craig Dyer, 19, was sentenced to 28 months after admitting possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition without a certificate.

His home had been under surveillance by detectives following the murder of 16-year-old James, who was gunned down in front of horrified skaters at Streatham Ice Rink on February 3.

The Old Bailey was told how detectives followed Dyer to Brixton, where he was spotted collecting a gun and ammunition. Armed police were then called and his car was stopped in Streatham High Road.

Police found a converted pistol wrapped in a pair of tights between his legs and two 9mm bullets wrapped in tissue paper in the footwell.

He was arrested on suspicion of the murder.

Dyer, an apprentice plumber from Farnley Road, will serve half his 28-month sentence at a young offenders' institution before being released on licence.

He is one of seven people arrested over the 16-year-old's murder and remains on technical bail.

No one has been charged with murder.

Defending him, Anu Omideyi called Dyer "intelligent, hard-working and reliable" and claimed he had fallen into bad company - turning to crime to raise money after his apprenticeship was cancelled.

He had picked up the gun and was delivering it to an unnamed person in return for a fee when he was stopped, it was said.

But Judge Peter Beaumont QC told him: "The facts on which I sentence you reveal you were prepared to transfer a firearm and live ammunition for financial gain.

"If you are prepared to involve yourself in gun crime and get caught, the sentence will be passed to send you away."