Man 'told police of gun factory'

A man living near an illegal gun factory alerted police after finding what looked like firearm-making machinery, a court has heard.

Tony Humphries said he found the equipment inside outbuildings at the back of a house near Reading last July.

Grant Wilkinson, 34, and Gary Lewis, 38, deny turning replica guns into live weapons at the address.

The prosecution said they were then sold and have since been linked to 51 shootings, including eight murders.

The pair converted 90 replicas into real Mac 10 sub-machine guns in the factory at The Briars in Basingstoke Road, Three Mile Cross, the prosecution said.

Most of the shootings were in the Greater London area, with four in Birmingham and one in Manchester.

The majority of the murders took place in London, dating back to the summer of 2004, the court heard.

Mr Humphries, who was a former member of the RAF, told the court in a written statement he was alerted to the alleged gun factory by other neighbours.

When he went inside the outbuildings he found what looked like ammunition, firearm-making machinery, gun barrels on the floor, and fresh metal shavings, he said.

James Bond film

He said he told everyone to leave at that point and he called the police.

Mr Wilkinson, of no fixed address, and Mr Lewis, of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, deny charges of conspiracy to convert imitation firearms, conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms and conspiracy to sell or transfer ammunition.

They also deny two counts of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon and two counts of possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Earlier in the trial, the court heard Mr Wilkinson used a fake name to buy the 90 guns, worth £55,201, from Sabre Defence Industries in Middlesex.

He told a director of the firm they were needed for a James Bond film.

The court heard how police found evidence of 11 of the guns at the Three Miles Cross address and also buried at another location, in Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire.

Jurors were told 39 other converted guns were recovered from London, Birmingham, Southampton and the West country.

This meant 40 of the original 90 replica guns were unaccounted for and probably already converted into live firing weapons, the prosecution said.

The hearing continues.

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