A mum-of-four who hid a sawn-off shotgun in her garden has avoided jail after an “extraordinary” eight-year delay.

Wendy Allen was set to face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison after police found the single-barrel weapon at her home back in 2016.

However, due to it being nearly 3,000 days since the offence - a delay the judge described as “possibly the worst this court has seen” - the grandmother was given a suspended sentence.

Police were initially called to Allen’s home in Weeds Wood Road, Chatham, on April 18, 2016, after an anonymous tip-off regarding a Facebook post from a man named Jason Green.

Maidstone Crown Court heard he had posted a picture of himself alongside the caption: “Who is gonna die tonight?”

It was later revealed Allen had come across Green, who was known to her, one day and she saw he was “in pain”, after apparently being stabbed.

She claimed to police that he handed over a package and told her to hide it. She didn’t know a gun was inside but took it home and wiped it off, as she and her daughter had touched it, and buried it.

The court heard when officers arrived at her home, the now 47-year-old was honest and admitted where the firearm was.

Judge Robert Lazarus commented that without her help the officers may not have found the weapon.

Allen’s phone was seized and voice notes she exchanged with two men revealed she told them she ”didn’t know what to do with it”, and “would keep it safe”.

After her arrest, the “baffling” delays began. Around 16 months later she appeared at crown court where she entered a guilty plea.

Allen’s case was then delayed due to the trial of Green, who had allegedly given her the gun, as she was a witness for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Green was accused of possessing a firearm but his trial saw a six-year delay and only ended in March 2023 when he was acquitted.

Speaking about the time it had taken for Allen’s sentencing, Judge Lazarus said: “Nobody comes out of this smelling like a bed of roses apart from the defendant.”

In fact, it was Judge Lazarus who noticed the “significant” delay in her case when he was completing boxwork.

He commented how when looking at the Green trial he came across Allen’s case, read through it, and thought: “Oh my God. What has happened?” and scheduled a hearing for it in October 2022.

He continued: “There has been a catalogue of delays. What’s clear is that none of these delays are down to the defendant.”

‘Nobody comes out of this smelling like a bed of roses apart from the defendant...’

Talking about the exceptional situation, Louise Oakley, defending, said: “This offence took place 2,985 days ago. My client gave a guilty plea 2,512 days ago.”

She added: “She was left to make a stupid decision she couldn’t get out of. She’s taken full responsibility.”

Addressing Allen, the judge said: “The reality is you have waited well over eight years since you confessed.

“I’m not going to make you wait any longer. You are not going to prison today.

“This was an exceptionally serious crime. Firearms are made to do one thing and one thing only – kill.

“We are fortunate that in this country we have relatively low gun crimes due to very strict laws. This offence usually carries a minimum five-year term.

“However, there was no malice on your part and no desire to kill of injure anyone.”

Judge Lazarus went on to say Allen’s decision was “profoundly stupid” but she confessed within 45 minutes and was given credit for giving evidence at Green’s trial.

He added: “I suspect the delay is the longest this court has seen other than defendants who disappear.”

The judge explained how the minimum sentence of five years was reduced to three years due to the exceptional circumstances of long delays and giving evidence.

Allen was then given a third-off reduction for her early plea and confession.

As a result, the Chatham resident was handed a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for two years.

She must undergo 30 rehabilitation sessions and 200 hours of unpaid work.