A BRADFORD man accused of illegally possessing an Uzi sub-machine gun and ammunition appeared before the city's crown court today.

Jahanzeb Ismail, 43, of Upper Kipping Close, Thornton, faces three charges in relation to the weapon and three other charges of damaging vehicles.

He appeared at Bradford Crown Court via videolink, when a date of July 20 this year was set for his trial. He will next appear, in person, at the court on June 5.

The firearms allegations against Ismail are that, on March 13 this year, at 267 Girlington Road, Bradford, he was in possession of a 9mm Uzi sub-machine gun; that he was in possession of the weapon with intent to cause Junaid Hussain, Nazmeen Akhtar and Iram Kousar to believe that unlawful violence would be used against them; and that he was in possession of 12 9mmx19mm calibre Luger cartridges for use with an Uzi sub-machine gun.

He also faces three accusations of criminal damage to three cars - a Vauxhall Corsa, a Citroen DS and a Volkswagen Golf. The damage is alleged to have happened on the same date at the same address as the firearms offences.

The court heard that Ismail is currently serving a prison sentence until 2017 for a different offence.