Drug dealer jailed after admitting to possessing gun and cash in Watford
Watford man sentenced after being caught with illegal firearm and thousands of pounds
A Watford man, Daniel Pickavance, has been sentenced to six years in prison after admitting to multiple charges including possession of a handgun and large sums of cash.
The 27-year-old was stopped by National Crime Agency officers on 29th October 2025 while driving along Watford Road, Radlett.
Upon being stopped, Pickavance told officers, “There’s thirty grand in there and a handgun,” and directed them to the driver’s side back seat of his VW Golf where the illegal firearm and over £30,000 in cash were hidden.
The gun, a Top-Venting Blank-Firing pistol (TVBF), was loaded with five 8mm bullets.
Further searches of properties linked to Pickavance uncovered 3.3 kilos of cannabis, additional cash amounting to over £5,900, and a cash counting machine.
Despite initially answering no comment in interviews, Pickavance admitted his offences at St Albans Crown Court on 2nd December 2025.
He was sentenced at the same court to five years and four months for these offences, with an additional eight months for breaching a suspended sentence connected to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, for which he was convicted in October last year.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer Matteo Sole said: “Pickavance was caught red-handed with a dangerous weapon that he no doubt used as a tool for his drugs trade. The amount of incriminating evidence collected by our officers left him with no alternative but to plead guilty.”