Guilty: 'James Bond' gunsmith who armed underworld assassins

Published on Wednesday 27 August 2008 21:52

A GUNSMITH who converted replica weapons into working machine-guns used in a series of gangland murders was facing jail last night.

Grant Wilkinson bought 90 blank- firing guns, claiming they were for a James Bond film, and adapted them in a garden shed. They were then sold on and used by criminals, including the gang that killed PC Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford.

Yesterday, he was found guilty of supplying criminals with the weapons – Mac-10 firearms – which have been linked to nine murders.

Wilkinson, 34, of no fixed abode, modified the weapons in the back yard of a derelict house in Berkshire, which he rented out to tenants. The adapted guns were then sold to criminals, mainly in London.

His gun factory was run on a commercial scale, which police believe is without precedent in Britain. Denis Burke, of the Crown Prosecution Service's complex case unit, said yesterday: "Wilkinson established a firearms factory in a small suburb of Reading that was able to meet the demand nationally of the criminal fraternity. The firearms have since been used in all of our big cities."

Detective Chief Superintendent George Turner said: "This gun factory appears to have been responsible for 90 per cent of Mac-10 incidents and shootings since 2004."

One gun was fired at the scene of the Bradford robbery in which PC Beshenivsky was killed in November 2005, although it did not fire the fatal shot.

Another Mac-10 from Wilkinson's gun factory was used to kill Michael Dosunmu, 15, as he lay in bed in Peckham, south-east London. Two men were targeting his brother in a gang feud.

Last night, Michael's parents said Wilkinson had "blood on his hands" and was as responsible for their son's death as his killers. The boy's father, Rasak Dosunmu, 51, said: "You are talking about blood money.

He is selling the guns to the underworld just to kill people, and it's all because of greed."

A police spokesman said a 10,000 reward was on offer for information leading to the recovery of 40 Mac-10 weapons that still have not been recovered, or for information leading to the arrests of criminals who have used them.

Wilkinson's gun factory was based in two shabby-looking sheds at the Briars in Three Mile Cross, Berkshire.

Weapons from there have been linked with 52 of the 58 Mac-10 shooting incidents since 2004, when Wilkinson set up his criminal enterprise.

A jury at Reading Crown Court convicted him yesterday of a series of offences, including conspiracy to convert an imitation firearm into a firearm, conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms and ammunition, possession of a firearm with intent to enable another person to endanger life and possessing a prohibited firearm, namely a Mac-10 submachine-gun. A co-defendant was cleared of all charges.

Their three-week trial heard how, using the name Grant Wilson, Wilkinson paid 55,000 in cash in July 2004 for 90 blank-firing Mac-10s from a registered gun dealer, claiming they were to be used on the set of the new James Bond film.

The dealer, Guy Savage of Sabre Defence Industries in Middlesex, had provided guns for a Bond movie in the past.

But Mr Savage later became suspicious of Wilkinson's "desperately disorganised" behaviour and secretly took his photograph using his mobile phone. The image was later handed to police.

The factory came to light after one of Wilkinson's tenants pushed open one of the shed doors and stumbled upon gun-making equipment and tools.

Police later found evidence of 11 guns at the property and buried in Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire.

Wilkinson will be sentenced this morning.