Would-be soldier Matthew Grabecki drew the attention of police when he fired a legally-owned shotgun on his property which alarmed neighbours.

When they went to his caravan at Wilstead they found drugs and a weapon collection which included an illegal sawn-off shotgun, Luton Crown Court was told.

But his solicitor David Wales said Grabecki was "no gun-toting drug
dealer".

He said the 22-year-old had two passions. On the party scene he was the provider of ecstasy and ketamine to his friends who had clubbed together to buy the drugs.

And he collected war memorabilia and yearned to join the Army. He had two shotguns with certificates but also unusual weapons, including a deactivated AK47 assault rifle.

Mr Wales said the sawn-off shotgun could not be fired in its condition and the defendant had shortened it himself to make it more interesting.

But Grabecki, who had failed to be taken on as a regular soldier and who had also been turned down by the Territorial Army, will never achieve his ambition after he was jailed for three-and-a-half years on Friday.

Grabecki, who lives in a caravan on ground in Bedford Road, pleaded guilty to possessing Class A and C drugs with intent to supply and possessing a shortened shotgun.

Bill McGivern, prosecuting, said the drugs, worth about £700, were found when the caravan was searched on April 18 this year.

Judge Barbara Mensah told him: "You knew there was no lawful reason for having that weapon and in the current climate the message needs to be sent out that when people hold them they will face immediate custodial sentences of some length."

He was given two years' custody for the drug offences with an additional 18 months for the firearms offence.