A driver who was “cruising” with a sawn-off shotgun and live cartridges in his car has been jailed.

John McDonagh had been seen acting suspiciously driving his Mercedes with two other men in the early hours near a Spar shop in Lydd.

Shopkeeper Jeffrey Niblett told a security guard and the police were called. The shotgun was wrapped in a towel in the boot.

McDonagh, who has a caravan at Romney Sands but lives in Gillingham, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years after admitting possessing a prohibited firearm, and a further nine months for breaching a suspended term for burglary.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr Niblett was taking delivery of morning newspapers in Lydd High Street when he saw the car driving past slowly and staying in the area for about an hour.

When police arrived, one of the other men was driving the car and McDonagh, 46, was lying in the back seat. Allister Walker, prosecuting, said McDonagh opened the boot and shut it quickly. An officer lifted the spare wheel cover and found the shotgun.

Two boxes containing cartridges were in the back of the car. Sixteen other cartridges were loose.

A search of the car revealed smoke cartridges. More ammunition was recovered from McDonagh’s caravan.

Helen Harper, defending, said: “There is no evidence the cartridges fitted the gun. He had no intention to use the firearm to commit an offence.”

McDonagh said he found the gun in a bin liner and the cartridges while walking on the beach. He and two friends had been drinking the night before the arrest on May 20, he said, and went to the Spar shop the next morning to get food.

He claimed they drove around waiting for the shop to open. The story was dismissed as “manifestly implausible” by Judge Charles Macdonald, QC.

The judge said that the only reason for having a “sawn-off” was to commit a crime.

Judge Macdonald added that the intention of having such a weapon was plainly to “use it somewhere and some time in crime”.

Charges against the two other men were discontinued.