Ruthless criminal gang who made and supplied ‘assassination kits' jailed

Independent

8 hours ago

A 'ruthless' gang which manufactured and sold 'assassination kits' to the criminal underworld has been jailed for a total of more than 60 years.
Gary Hardy, 62, sold the weapon kits which were made in the garden of co-conspirator 64-year-old Robert Knowles, who acquired blank firing handguns and ammunition which he converted into viable firearms.
The kits were stocked with a handgun, silencer, magazine and ammunition wrapped in a latex glove, and police said the converted firearms have been seized in eight locations across the country.
At least 33 firearms had been manufactured in Knowles's firearms factory, which is believed to be one of the biggest in the East Midlands.
Accomplice Steven Houston, 65, supplied the weapons to criminals, including 23-year-old Jason Hill who is a drug dealer and was convicted of murder last year.
Hardy, of The Birches, Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire, received a sentence of 23 years, while Knowles, of Milton Avenue, Alfreton, Derbyshire, was handed a 13-year-and-six-month sentence, and Houston, of Breach Oak Lane, Corley, near Coventry, was given 25 years in prison.
Sentencing Hardy, Knowles and Houston, who sat side by side in the dock at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, Judge Mark Watson said: 'You were in business together. You brought your own set of skills and contacts to the enterprise.
'Each of you contributed in different but important ways. This was a large scale and highly sophisticated enterprise which involved a large number of weapons.'
The judge said the operation started in at least November 2022 and told the court he is sure this was intended to continue for longer.
The judge sentenced Hill, of Derby Road, Risley, Derbyshire, to serve four years consecutively to his life sentence for murder, and said: 'You are in a different and unique position in that you were not part of the conspiracy I deal with – you were a customer of it.
'These guns were designed to kill. There is no evidence these weapons had been discharged by you.'
Hardy, Knowles and Houston were charged with conspiring to sell a firearm, conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life, and conspiring to convert a firearm.
Hill was charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Knowles and Hill admitted their crimes before Houston and Hardy were found guilty at a trial.
Police stopped a vehicle in Gallows Lane in Measham, Leicestershire, in August 2023 and found a white box containing four firearms with Knowles's DNA on some of them.
Nottinghamshire Police said when officers arrived at his property, they found him setting fire to evidence in his garden.
Other weaponry was also seized from inside the address including crossbows, knives, axes, machetes, swords, gas powered weapons, airguns and ammunition, the force said.
Abigail Joyce, prosecuting, said the weapon kits were distributed on a 'significant scale', and added: 'There was an expectation of substantial financial gain.'
Ms Joyce told the court, which was attended by friends and family of the defendants: 'The prosecution contend that the three played leading roles in a long-standing conspiracy.
'The sale of assassination kits demonstrates they were only designed to be used for one purpose, i.e. the infliction of serious, and likely fatal, injuries.'
Emma Goodall KC, defending Hardy, said his chronic health issues would make prison difficult and added that a custodial sentence would impact his wife.
Defence barrister for Knowles, Balraj Bhatia KC, said the defendant was 'not the instigator' and is described by many as a 'caring, helpful, kind person that many in difficulties can turn to'.
In a letter read out by Mr Bhatia, Knowles wrote: 'I have made my bed, now I must lie in it. I'm sorry for what I got up to. If I manage to come through my sentence, I promise you won't be hearing any more from me.'
Gordon Cole KC, defending Houston, said his client has 'real, physical difficulties' and has shown a 'clear expression of remorse'.
In a statement after the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Adas, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: 'These are ruthless individuals that have a complete disregard for human life.
'They were creating, packaging and distributing firearms, which would have led to devastating consequences had they been used in public.
'Each handgun had been threaded to fit a silencer, which allowed the gun to be used discreetly at close quarters, meaning any potential targets would be lucky to escape with their lives.
'The rounds of ammunition were converted in such a way that upon impact they expanded causing maximum damage to any target.
'Our team of detectives have now closed arguably one of the biggest firearm factories in the East Midlands and taken a large quantity of firearms off the streets.
'The full impact of this investigation will never be seen – that's because we are unable to count the number of lives we may have saved.
'If this operation had continued undetected, the strong likelihood is these weapons would have been used and people would have been killed or seriously harmed.
'To put this into context – considering that each assassination kit included 10 rounds of converted ammunition, the seizure of more than 800 blank firing rounds and nearly 800 lead pellets indicates that the group had the potential to supply up to 80 further firearms packages.
'So far, we have identified eight locations across the country where these specific converted firearms or ammunition have been seized.
'The majority were in the West Midlands. This was therefore a well-established and far-reaching criminal enterprise.
'These criminals have shown no remorse. They provided no comment in interview and have no care whatsoever for the damage they were willing to inflict on others.
'Their motives are likely to have been financial, providing weapons to criminals who in turn were using them to protect their drug operations.
'They have now paid the full price for their actions by being handed lengthy prison sentences.
'Hardy is likely to spend the remainder of his life behind bars, which sends out a clear message to those willing to get involved in this level of criminality.'