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A "gun enthusiast" has been jailed for five years after anti-terror police found an arsenal of unlicensed lethal weapons and ammunition at his home.

Items found during the raid at Andrew Tipling's home on March 13 included:

A Browning semi-automatic pistol;

A used light anti-tank weapon;

A shotgun with a "shortened" barrel, with five cartridges attached to the butt;

10,000 rounds of ammunition;

Fragmenting "soft-nose" ammunition;

An antique pistol;

An air rifle;

A replica shotgun;

Seven gas cannisters;

A knuckle-duster;

A baseball bat;

A "police-style" baton;

Pepper spray;

A German police jacket;

Weapons parts;

Ten knives.

'Far-right memorabilia'

Simon Reevell, prosecuting, told Hull Crown Court officers also discovered "items associated with the politics of the far-right", although further investigations established Tipling, of Bronte Walk, Bridlington, had no links to any such groups in the UK or mainland Europe.

Stephen Robinson, for Tipling, described these as "memorabilia" he had "foolishly" bought at a car boot sale in Belgium, where he had been living until the breakdown of his marriage a month before the raid.

Judge David Tremberg said: "Foolish maybe, but extremely unfortunate in the context of a case like this."

Mr Reevell said the 6.5mm "soft-nose" ammunition was of the kind used by deer hunters and could not be used by the military as it was outside the Geneva Convention, although "specialist firearms units do avail themselves of it".

Tipling, 48, claimed the weapons were for "ornamental" use, but the judge said that did not explain why they were accompanied by the exact type of ammunition needed to fire them, including 50 rounds of 7.65mm ammunition for the Browning, and other 7.5mm rounds and 6.5mm rounds.

Some of the items were under a bed, while the knives were found under the shelf of a bookcase "laid out next to one another".

He also said the pepper spray was to "protect himself" from dogs in the Belgian town where he lived. He was in the process of moving his possessions from his home in Belgium to the property he owned in Bridlington, he said.

He told police he had a licence for his armoury in Belgium and planned to get one in the UK, but Mr Reevell said he would not secure a licence in this country for the weapons in question.

Tipling, who had no previous convictions, and was a man of "positive good character", admitted possession of a shortened shotgun, possession of live ammunition, and possession of a prohibited firearm (the Browning).

Public 'at serious risk'

Judge Tremberg told him: "Had these items got into the wrong hands, and given the fact you had stored them so insecurely, there was every possibility that they might have, then the public would have been at serious risk."

Mr Robinson said: "The defendant is perhaps best described as a gun enthusiast, and that's got him into some very serious trouble."

After the hearing, Detective Sergeant Dave Porteus from Bridlington CID, said: "Even though we believe Tipling didn’t pose a threat nor was a danger to the wider public, the weapons cache found at his property was substantial. We are pleased those weapons are now off the streets.

"I would advise anyone who has an interest in guns to comply with UK laws, have the correct licence and always be aware of proper safety and care. I’d also like to thank the members of the public who assisted our officers in this investigation.

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"Andrew Tipling made the wrong decision to bring the weapons into the UK. He’ll have quite a while now to reflect on that decision."

Catherine Ainsworth of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Today’s sentence shows the possession of illegal and unauthorised weapons and ammunition will not be tolerated, and those that flout the law will rightly be prosecuted."

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