An armourer who converted blank firing guns to become deadly weapons and planned to produce industrial supplies of methylamphetamine has been sentenced to 22 years and three months in jail following a National Crime Agency investigation.
The gang’s activities included a meeting at a car park in Lancaster to take delivery of firearms.
Dudley Brennan, 31, converted weapons for criminals from Cumbria to Somerset under the cover of his motorcycle repairs business in the Lake District.
He worked closely with Liverpool criminal Peter Weston, 40, who coordinated their organised crime group (OCG).
The duo hoped to make a significant profit by converting top-venting blank firearms (TVBF) for OCGs to use in feuds and turf wars with other criminals.
Brennan, of Sandes Avenue, Kendal, converted at least two submachine guns as well as a number of other pistols.
He was also at the centre of a plot to produce the class A drug methylamphetamine – the chemical name for methamphetamine or crystal meth - with conspirator and convicted drugs trafficker Weston, of Sparrow Hall Road, Norris Green, Liverpool.
Today (February 23) at Bolton Crown Court, Weston was also jailed. He was sentenced to 26 years and nine months behind bars.
Three other members of their crime group were also sentenced.
On March 7, 2024, NCA officers raided Brennan’s business premises at Fell View Trading Park in Kendal after witnessing him taking delivery of 10 Turkish-made Ekol TVBFs.
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Weston arranged the meeting at the Lancaster car park for Brennan to take delivery of the guns from co-conspirators Daniel Fitzgerald, 32, and Ryan Pilling, 29.
Inside the business premises, NCA officers discovered a firearms conversion factory and also recovered a Makarov-style semi-automatic pistol which was in the process of being converted to fire 9mm ammunition, a quantity of bullets, and a silencer.
Officers evidenced in the investigation that the OCG had purchased and converted 17 firearms, 12 of which have been recovered. Intelligence has been shared with partners about the five others.
Weston worked hand-in-glove with Brennan and was the OCG’s sales broker, putting other offenders in touch with the armourer and facilitating the firearms’ onward sale.
Pilling, 29, of Wigan Road, Ashton, followed Weston’s instructions, directing Fitzgerald and helping to plan the OCG’s offences.
Fitzgerald, 32, of Winstanley Road, Wigan, ordered the 10 Ekols from an online retailer for Brennan to convert.
Pilling was sentenced to 13 years and seven months, and Fitzgerald to eight years.
Joshua Ee, 27, of Malvern Avenue, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was jailed for 13 years and six months.
He was in close contact with Brennan, who has convictions for possession of a firearm and ammunition from when he lived in Australia, throughout the offending period.
Ee liaised with a customer in Spain about buying a converted gun, and his DNA was found on a recovered converted weapon from a vehicle in Widnes, Cheshire, in May 2023, showing his crucial role in handling and moving converted guns.
Ee also offered to source firearms if Brennan would convert them, and they could then split the sales profits.
All five men admitted conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited weapons.
Brennan and Weston also admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
A search of Brennan’s home revealed a small methylamphetamine production lab in his kitchen.
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Evidence showed that he and Weston discussed mass-producing methylamphetamine.
Brennan believed they could produce as much as 100 litres in a 12-hour period in a custom-built design that would be housed in a catering trailer and could be moved around.
He sent a screenshot of an advertisement for a 1989 Chevrolet GMC Allegro for sale. Weston, who was jailed in 2013 for 11 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine, responded: “Ha, Breaking Bad”.
Brennan said he could claim the vehicle was for his business and stick it “to the government as a business tax write-off”. The pair did not have time to implement the plan before NCA officers arrested them.
When the NCA raided Brennan’s business in Kendal, a cordon was put around the area, and partners from local policing, a Ministry of Defence bomb disposal team, fire and rescue and ambulance attended to ensure any potential threat to the public was handled.
NCA branch commander Cat McHugh said: “I’d like to thank Cheshire Police for their support, and also Cumbria Police, MoD and the other emergency services who helped us that night because when we went through Brennan’s door, we did not know the full extent of the threat he posed.
“Brennan and the group were only interested in making money and didn’t care at all about the harm these firearms could do in our communities. They were a real danger to the public.
“Tackling the criminal use of firearms is an NCA priority and we will continue doing everything in our power to achieve that.”
In February last year, nearly 3,000 Turkish-made TVBFs were surrendered in an amnesty organised by the NCA and National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Tests showed the firearms were readily convertible with common DIY tools without specialist skill and therefore illegal under section 1 (6) of the Firearms Act 1982, meaning they are prohibited firearms under section 5 (1) of the Firearms Act 1968. Possession of one of the guns could result in a 10-year prison sentence.
A similar amnesty is currently underway for five types of Italian-made Bruni TVBFs.
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