TWO Morecambe shooting enthusiasts who reactivated machine guns in a garden shed and sold them to a criminal gang linked to Continuity IRA are facing jail terms.

Robert Naylor, 48, of Westminster Road and James Greenwood 57, of Westgate Avenue, were found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey in London on Tuesday.

Naylor was convicted of nine counts of possession of firearms with intent to endanger life and two of manufacturing prohibited weapons.

He was cleared of one count of possessing firearms with intent to endanger life.

Greenwood was convicted of two counts of possessing firearms with intent to endanger life and three of manufacturing prohibited weapons.

They appeared with James Moloney, 45, who lives in a mobile home, off Napier Road, Bradford. He pleaded guilty to taking part in the plot.

All three are expected to be sentenced tomorrow (Friday).

Benjamin Wilson, of Carleton Street, Morecambe, was cleared of possessing firearms with and storing weapons at his van hire yard.

The court heard that Naylor and Greenwood were paid thousands of pounds to restore Uzi 9mm, Sterling and Sten weapons to working order.

One of their pistols was used for a murder in the Republic of Ireland and traced to England after being found by police in a riverbed.

Naylor was then trapped by anti-terrorist officers as he sold three guns to Irishman Moloney in a Morecambe lay-by for £4,000.

Moloney passed the weapons to an Irish relative to help fight a drugs war in Limerick.

The Old Bailey was told how both Naylor and Greenwood were members of local gun clubs and trawled arms fairs across the country looking for new models.

They were originally charged with terrorist offences but those were dropped after the Irish authorities decided to take no action against alleged conspir-ators in that country.

Both were convicted of a series of charges of possessing firearms and manufacturing prohibited weapons.

The police investigation began after a CZ model 75 9mm pistol was found in the bed of the Mulcair River in Annacotty, county Limerick in December, 2002.

But it only hit top gear with the discovery of a Sterling machine gun and a home-made bomb at a house in Limerick in June 2003.

Fingerprints found on a plastic bag full of drugs found buried in the garden were linked to a relative of Moloney. They led to a surveillance operation being mounted in August 2003.

Moloney, who married the sister of Naylor's girlfriend, was followed travelling to England.

He sent a series of text messages to Naylor, including one reading: 'It's Jimmy. Going away Sunday. Be back following Sunday. If furniture landing this weekend, need to know for Friday to have money.'

Later Naylor was seen talking to Moloney in a Sierra car parked in a layby near the Golden Ball pub.

Moloney then left with the guns in his Mercedes and made two calls to Noel Moloney in the Republic of Ireland. Naylor was arrested that afternoon with £4,000 in cash under the seat of his car.

Wilson, who loaned the money to Moloney, told the jury he had no idea what his friend was up to or that he had bought weapons.

DAC Peter Clarke, of Terrorist Investigations, says: "These men had conspired to deliver a murderous arsenal of automatic weapons to criminals in Ireland. No direct terrorist connections have been found but they knew that by putting such weapons in the hands of criminals the likelihood was that someone would be killed or maimed."