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A Met Police press release:

Raymond Mill, 69 (19.05.45), an antiques dealer of Pinnocks Avenue, Gravesend was charged on Wednesday, 7 January, with three counts of possession of a prohibited weapon (firearms) and one count of selling a primer to another.

He appears in custody at Bromley Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 8 January.

He was arrested on Tuesday, 6 January, following execution of a firearms search warrant at an address in Pinnocks Avenue, Gravesend.

The case seems to be connected to this one:

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/ne ... tley-7102/

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said a Forehand and Wadsworth double action revolver wrapped in a carrier bag was retrieved from the glove compartment. Almost £400 was also found.

Keatley said he bought the weapon from Ray Mills, a registered firearms dealer in Gravesend, for £475.

He added he was interested in guns as a hobby and planned to put it on the wall or lock it in a box.

He was barred from having a firearms licence because of criminal convictions. The gun, made between 1871-1890, was classed as an antique - but was not possessed as an ornament or curiosity, said Mr Polnay.

I have no more solid info than that.

Interesting article Gaz, the permanent point here (with regard to the Sec58 .32 Rifle-fire Forehand and Wadsworth at least) being he clearly had intent to fire it or convert it to another calibre .... bloody hell he's a dangerous and stupid looking bugger, wouldn't want to bump into him on a dark night!

On a side note, I have had a few of these interesting, pretty little revolvers in the past, a real classic 19th century "shop keeper" special, its a shame its path crossed this idiot, now it has to be destroyed.

I can see these early cartridge revolvers being moved to Sec5 before long because of numb nuts like this!

From the article....

"A drug addict found to be manufacturing illegal guns after armed police discovered one in his car has been jailed for eight years.

Thomas Keatley was stopped in his Vauxhall Corsa on a slip road at the Littlebrook Interchange near Dartford on June 7.

He told officers: "I know why you're here."

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said a Forehand and Wadsworth double action revolver wrapped in a carrier bag was retrieved from the glove compartment. Almost £400 was also found.

Keatley said he bought the weapon from Ray Mills, a registered firearms dealer in Gravesend, for £475.

He added he was interested in guns as a hobby and planned to put it on the wall or lock it in a box.

He was barred from having a firearms licence because of criminal convictions. The gun, made between 1871-1890, was classed as an antique - but was not possessed as an ornament or curiosity, said Mr Polnay.

Keatley was charged and remanded in custody.

Police, meanwhile, used keys taken from the car to open a lock-up garage in Crawley, West Sussex, where the registered tenant was Keatley's mother Deborah. He lived at her home there.

Mr Polnay said there were significant items there for use in the manufacture of firearms and ammunition.

"There was everything you would want to make bullets and firearms," he said. "In an ice cream box was an incomplete homemade pistol. He had manufactured a working pistol.

"Documents were found on a memory stick which was a plan of how to make that gun. The weapons have no conceivable lawful use whatsoever."

Also found was a bag containing 378g of cannabis with a street value of £1,890.

Mr Polnay said Keatley's bank statements showed a modest balance. But they also showed the purchase of gun-making equipment on the internet.

Keatley was jailed for five years for possessing a prohibited firearm - the minimum sentence he faced for the offence.

He was jailed for three years consecutive for manufacturing a prohibited firearm and one year concurrent for possessing prohibited ammunition.

He was given four months concurrent for possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

Judge Michael Carroll said the gun offences were "extremely serious", adding: "This was a determined effort on your part to possess two prohibited weapons. It is always concerning when there is the combination of firearms and drugs.

"Nothing other than a custodial sentence of some length can be justified."

The judge also ordered the weapons be destroyed.

Mr Polnay said Keatley's bank statements showed a modest balance. But they also showed the purchase of gun-making equipment on the internet.

This could be anything from a hacksaw and file upwards and I do wonder what is deemed to be 'gun-making equipment' from a legal viewpoint.

I have been told that Ray Mills died suddenly in the latter part of January.

The inquest is scheduled for May.

Postscript.

A registered firearms dealer from Kent shot himself in the head while on “one last shoot” before he faced trial on charges of possessing prohibited pistols, a coroner’s court heard last week.

https://ukshootingnews.wordpress.com/20 ... nce-fears/

Its the poor sod he went shooting with and his wife i feel most sorry for, terrible

Blackstuff wrote:Its the poor sod he went shooting with and his wife i feel most sorry for, terrible

Exactly my thoughts also. He may not have been thinking straight in the end but he didn't have any thoughts for the friend who he was with did he, some friend.

Chapuis wrote:

Blackstuff wrote:Its the poor sod he went shooting with and his wife i feel most sorry for, terrible

Exactly my thoughts also. He may not have been thinking straight in the end but he didn't have any thoughts for the friend who he was with did he, some friend.

I do take your point, but when things have got so bad that you're about to shoot yourself I can't imagine you'd be thinking very straight about anything else. Whatever, its a very sad end to the story.