Gangland armourer who was caught with improvised single-shot handgun, a revolver and hundreds of bullets is jailed for nine years

Thomas Keatley, 28, was arrested as part of an anti-firearm police sting

He owned an archaic revolver and had made a single-shot pistol

Keatley also manufactured ammo and had manuals on guns



An illegal armourer has been jailed for a raft of firearms and drugs offences, including possessing two handguns and hundreds of bullets.

Today at Maidstone Crown Court, Thomas Keatley, 28, of Sussex, was sentenced to nine years and four months after he was found with two handguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, gun-making equipment and a large quantity of cannabis.

Keatley, arrested as part of an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service's anti-gun Trident Gang Crime Command, was sentenced to five years for one count of possession of a prohibited weapon - a Forehand & Wadsworth double action .38 gate loading revolver.

Weaponsmith: Thomas Keatley has been jailed for nine years for a string of firearms and drug offences

He also got three years for one count of attempting to manufacture a prohibited weapon, namely an improvised single shot pistol. These sentences are to run consecutively.

Keatley, who pleaded guilty in June, was also sentenced to one year for one count of manufacturing ammunition and four months for one count of possession of cannabis, which will run concurrently.

On the evening of Friday, June 7, Trident officers, with the assistance of MPS specialist firearms officers and Kent Police, stopped Keatley's vehicle in Dartford, Kent.



He told officers: 'I know why you're here, it's in the glove box.'

They opened it to find a Morrison's carrier bag containing the revolver, manufactured between 1871 and 1890.

Three days later officers searched a garage linked to Keatley in Crawley, Sussex.

Archaic: One of the guns in his possession was a 19th Century Forehand & Wadsworth double action .38 gate loading revolver

During the two-day search of the garage a partially-homemade firearm, a substantial quantity of ammunition and items connected with the manufacturing of firearms were seized.

The haul included a complete, improvised brass-barrel, single-shot pistol with a 'blueprint' on how to make the firearm and hundreds of bullets and cartridge cases.



There was also equipment to make home-made ammo.

Other items seized included a pistol magazine, a rifle clip, four dummy cartridges, two bottles of smokeless propellant for loading into shotgun and handgun cartridges, bullet lubricant and assorted gun care products.

The partially-constructed single shot pistol found in the garage

As well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition, Keatley had gun-making equipment and a large quantity of cannabis

A USB memory stick was also hidden in a block of wood. It contained 18 manuals, taken from the internet, on how to make both handguns and machine guns, as well as ammo.



Bank account enquiries showed Keatley had purchased the majority of the firearms items recovered from the garage, including the reloading tools, online during the latter months of 2012 from stores in both America and the UK.

Detective Inspector Paul Dorey, Trident Gang Crime Command, said: 'This is a significant result for Trident and the MPS together with Sussex and Kent Police.

'The seizure of the firearms, gun-making equipment and bullet cartridges has without doubt prevented lethal weaponry entering the hands of criminal networks operating in London and the Home Counties.

An officer said the seizure has 'without doubt prevented lethal weaponry entering the hands of criminal networks operating in London and the Home Counties'

'On arrest, Keatley looked to hide behind firearm legislation to prevent prosecution. He stated he had purchased the antique revolver from a registered firearm dealer in Kent and as such, it was not a prohibited firearm.

'However when the weight of evidence was compiled against him he had no choice but to change his stance and admit to all firearm charges.

'This operation also demonstrates how Trident, and our police colleagues from around the UK, will work across both county and borough boundaries in order to arrest and place before the courts criminals who are involved in gun crime and gang-related criminal activity.'

Chief Superintendent Paul Morrison, Sussex Police, said: 'This was a significant seizure which can only make the streets of the country safer. It demonstrates how police forces can work together to disrupt serious criminality.