A 55-year-old has been sentenced to serve nine years for firearms offences following an incident which saw shots fired by police.

Edward Mark Williams, from Malvern, was today sentenced following an incident in Bromsgrove.

Williams appeared for sentencing at Worcester Crown Court after previously pleading guilty.

He has been sentenced to serve nine months for escaping lawful custody, seven years for two counts of possession of an imitation firearm with the intent to cause fear of violence; and nine years for having an imitation firearm with intent to resist arrest.

The sentences will be served concurrently.

The offences related to an incident which took place in November 2018 when police were called to reports of a man with a handgun.

He was located in Birmingham Road and during the incident shots were fired by trained firearms officers.

Williams suffered gunshot wounds and was given emergency first aid by police at the scene before being taken to hospital where he received surgery.

He made a full recovery.

Detective Chief Inspector Carl Moore said: “Thankfully incidents such as this are very rare in West Mercia and I am pleased Williams has been brought to justice and the sentence reflects the extremely serious nature of these offences and the fear he caused.

“Our specially trained firearms officers are highly skilled and will only ever discharge their weapons as a last resort if it is absolutely necessary and I would like to thank the local community for their understanding and patience displayed while we dealt with this incident.”