Two men were sentenced to 30 years in prison for using a 3D printer to create submachine weapons.
In the first case of its sort in the UK, Sibusiso Moyo, 41, and Christopher Gill, 35, were found guilty of conspiring to make and provide improvised weapons to criminal groups.
When police in Bradford discovered the lethal plastic weapons concealed in the BMW Majeed Rehman, 46, was driving, they were shocked.
Officers stopped the automobile on May 17 of last year after watching a guy, subsequently identified as Gill, enter it with a grocery bag that would serve him for the rest of his life.The ‘FGC9’ improvised automatic sub-machine gun, magazine, and ammunition were found inside the car’s back footwell.
Later, two nearly finished FGC9s were discovered in a holdall stashed in Gill’s loft after his home was raided.
At Moyo’s Hull house, police discovered two 3D printers and the components needed to assemble the lethal weapons.The property also had weapons in various stages of development, and Moyo’s DNA was discovered on the weapon from the BMW.
At Sheffield Crown Court, Bradford resident Gill was convicted guilty of making a gun without a license and received a 13-year sentence.
For both the first offense and a subsequent charge of identity fraud, Moyo received an 18-year sentence.
Det Chf Inspector Andrew Howard commented following the sentencing, “Manufacturing viable 3D printed guns is a real threat, and these firearms were produced for one specific reason, to be given to other organized criminals who would use them to cause harm.
We are dedicated to keep the public safe by going after individuals who made these deadly weapons, he continued.
“Those who do will be pursued, will feel the full force of the law, and should anticipate serving significant sentences.”
Rehman, a resident of Bradford, was found guilty of ammunition possession as well as conspiracy to transfer an illegal weapon. He will receive his punishment later.
