Jailed: Man, 46, converted and sold potentially lethal weapons to UK criminals
A man involved in the manufacture and selling of converted firearms some of which were snapped up by criminals has been jailed for 22 years.
Aaron Anderson, aged 46, used "rudimentary" methods to make some of the potentially lethal weapons by converting BB guns, airguns and blank pistols and ordered bullets online for them in a "highly sophisticated" operation that came to light in 2019.
Anderson was told by the sentencing judge that there was no mitigation for his actions that resulted in crudely fashioned guns and bullets getting into the hands of gangs across the region, possibly in the Black Country and further afield.
Sentencing him at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Johnathan Gosling said the enterprise was being operated on a "massive scale" and that the weapons were designed to let off a "loud bang".
He said a firearms expert's report highlighted that the production methods used to create them would have resulted in the weapons being unpredictable and that the bullets would have sprayed in any direction, putting lives at risk.
