Tests link Mac-10 to gun factory

Grant Wilkinson converted replica guns into live weapons in a shed

A Mac-10 sub machine gun recovered in London has been linked to an operation where replicas weapons were converted into lethal weapons in Berkshire.

Grant Wilkinson ran the factory in Three Mile Cross, near Reading. He was jailed for life in August.

Police offered a £10,000 reward for any information leading to the recovery of 40 outstanding converted guns.

The Met Police said forensic tests on a gun found in London in September showed it was linked to Wilkinson's operation.

A Met Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that on 19 September officers from the Met's Operation Trident recovered a Mac-10 machine gun from a garden in south London.

Eight murders

"Forensic tests have confirmed that the gun is linked to Operation Townsend, an appeal to recover 40 Mac-10s that were sold by Grant Wilkinson.

"We are still appealing for any information on the whereabouts of the remaining 39 weapons."

Wilkinson, 34, was found guilty of turning replica guns into weapons linked to more than 50 shootings, including at least eight murders.

He was convicted of seven offences of converting and supplying firearms, including one linked to the murder of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky.

Wilkinson, of no fixed abode, adapted replica Mac-10 sub-machine guns in a shed in Three Mile Cross.

He was sentenced to a minimum term of 11 years at Reading Crown Court.

Co-defendant Gary Lewis, 38, of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, was cleared of all charges.