By James Simons-
Members of a jury were passed a firearm recovered from one of three defendants from West Yorkshire in a trial at Sheffield Crown Court for offences relating to the manufacture and transfer of sub-machine guns made using a 3D printer.
Some members of the jury grimaced as the firearm recovered from Majeeb Rehman’s car shortly after 7pm on May 17 last year was passed round to them as evidence in the case against the men.
Leading counsel for the prosecution, Stephen Wood KC, requested: “Please don’t pull the trigger or move any of the parts.”
The firearm, handed to the jury by a police officer had been cleaned and was perfectly safe to examine, the jurors were told
The court has heard that imprinted on the plastic is an image of an arm holding a curved sword with what seemed to be blood dripping from the sword.
The jurors passed round one of eight Parabellum calibre cartridges recovered with the FGC-9, 9mm Luger carbine, and also handled the ‘main carbine’ found in Christopher Gill’s attic at his address on Dick Lane, Bradford, and a lower receiver, a stock and three springs.
Mr Wood described them as ‘the main objects’ with other gun parts exhibited on photographs.
The trial judge, The Honourable Mr Justice Hilliard, adjourned the hearing until Monday when the defence cases will begin.
Moyo, 41, of Elloughton Grove, Hull, and Gill, 35, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy with others unknown to manufacture prohibited firearms. Jurors heard that Moyo was a DNA match for swabs taken from seized items.
The pair deny conspiracy to transfer a prohibited firearm, an FGC-9 hybrid carbine sub-machine gun, to persons unknown on May 17, 2022, and possessing ammunition, eight 9mm Luger cartridges, without a firearms certifi-cate.
Moyo and Gill also deny two charges of having a prohibited weapon for sale or transfer.
Moyo pleaded not guilty to possession of an identity document with improper intention.
A trained firearms officer who inspected the gun had never seen such a weapon before.
Moyo and Gill are accused of involvement in the manufacture of firearms, and Rehman was caught red-handed transporting one that was loaded with functioning bulleted cartridges.
The jury heard that Andre Horne, a scientist with expertise in the analysis of firearms and ballistics, concluded that most of the FGC-9, 9mm Luger carbine recovered from Rehman’s car had been produced on a 3D printer and some of its metal parts appeared to be homemade.
The main part of the weapon found at Dick Lane was a 3D printed partially assembled 9mm Luger FGC-9 carbine. The other section was the lower receiver to a FGC-9 carbine. It too was the product of 3D printing, it is said.
The trial continues.