A GANG of five men has been jailed for bringing a gun on to a Pimlico street.

Police found the men trying to stash the firearm, wrapped in a blue plastic bag, in the doorway of a building in Millbank.

The five men were given sentences of between five years and seven years in prison at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard that a taxi driver pulled up behind a marked police car at around 1.35am on January 22.

The taxi driver wanted the police officer to help him following a dispute with his passengers, the group of five.

As the passengers got out of the car, one tried to stash the firearm to stop it being discovered by the police.

However, CCTV operators watching the incident were able to alert the police officers at the scene, who found the gun in the doorway.

The five men were arrested at the scene and charged with possession of a firearm.

Three of the men - John Hernandez, 21, a student of Trulock Road, Tottenham; Lema Nsimba, 20, of Bounces Road, Lower Edmonton; and Silvino Domingos, 21, a student of Aldgate Road, Enfield - denied the charge but were each convicted following a trial. They were all sentenced to seven years in prison.

Two men admitted the charge - Anthony Adalumo, 21, a student of Highbury Estate, Highbury, and Ousainov Leone, 18, a decorator of Gantshill Crescent, Essex.

Adalumo was sentenced to five years and three months, while Leone was handed a five-year sentence.

DC Mike Koshal, of the Westminster Serious Violence Team, said: "Weapons like this have no place on London's streets. I hope the sentence communicates how seriously the police and the courts view the carrying or possession of dangerous firearms."

(Photos: Hernandez, Nsimba, Domingos, Adalumo and Leone)