A former British soldier who stockpiled more than 600 weapons in his “man cave” after developing a fascination for Nazi Germany has been jailed for six years.
Paul Page, 52, a convicted paedophile, collected landmines, grenades, rifles, ammunition and chemicals in a shed which he also described as a “personal museum” .
Page admitted a string of terrorism, explosives and firearms charges and was jailed at the Old Bailey for six years with a further year on extended licence.
Sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Richard Marks KC said Page had an “obsession with weapons and tools” and was capable of repairing and making firearms, ammunition and functioning explosives.
Even though Page said he kept the stash under lock and key, the judge said it was in a residential area and potentially within reach of children if he was not “100% vigilant”.
Had the shed been burgled and the items got into the wrong hands, “the consequences could have been very serious”, the judge added.
Judge Marks also noted Page’s post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and history of sexual offending in the United States and UK.
The defendant had been monitored by dedicated officers after he was previously convicted of child abuse in the US in 2006.
The offences emerged after a separate investigation by Cambridgeshire Police into reports that Page had downloaded child abuse images in 2023.
Officers uncovered more than 250 illegal images on Page’s devices.
In August 2023, he was jailed for 20 months after admitting three charges of making indecent images of children.
During a search of his home in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, in May 2023, officers had also discovered a hoard of Nazi flags, Second World War weapons and chemicals in an outbuilding.
It led to a separate investigation by Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (Ersou).
Counter-terrorism officers established Page had more than 600 weapons and other militaria linked to Nazi activity during the Second World War.
Police said that although much of this was legal memorabilia, he was in possession of prohibited items including landmines, grenades, rifles and ammunition.
A book was seized containing instructions on how to produce a sub-machine gun, and component parts of firearms, bullet casings and shells were recovered.
There were also several chemicals that, if combined, were precursor materials useful for the manufacture of explosives.
Page had also downloaded a banned document containing instructions to make viable explosives.
In interview, Page had denied holding an extreme right-wing mindset, despite having an email address which referenced numbers associated with Adolf Hitler and a tattoo linked to white supremacy, police said.
He described the outbuilding as his “man cave” and “personal museum”, saying he had a deep fascination with anything military.
Bethan David, head of counter terrorism for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Paul Page stockpiled weaponry, chemicals and ammunition in a shed at his family home.
“He had previously manufactured explosive powder and admitted to an obsession with weapons.
“The seriousness of his offending has been reflected in the sentence passed down today.”
Page pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a document or record likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism; two counts of possessing an explosive substance, four counts of possessing a firearm without a certificate, two counts related to the possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of prohibited ammunition and possession of ammunition without a certificate.
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