A firearms enthusiast has been sentenced to five years in prison for possessing a hoard of illegal weapons at his Tywnholm home.
Simon Churchman, 63, was charged after cops discovered a Sampoi sub-machine gun at his farm cottage in March, 2018.
Although the gun was in working condition and capable of firing two or more bullets successively without repeated pressure on the trigger, its safety had been “seriously compromised” and it ruptured when tested, a court heard.
Churchman was also found with seven air guns, a shotgun, a rifle and more than 600 rounds of ammunition – all without the necessary certificates.
The court heard how police called at Churchman’s detached cottage on an unrelated matter before finding his “workshop” upstairs.
He appeared for sentencing at the High Court in Livingston on Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to six charges of possessing weapons and ammunition.
David Moggach QC, defending, said Churchman had a keen interest in firearms and tried to restore them.
He told the court: “He is at pains to point out that he does not possess the firearms for any sinister or nefarious reasons.
“His background is one of engineering and he appreciates firearms for the quality of their craftsmanship. It’s not anything more sinister than that.”
Mr Moggach went on: “It’s ironic in the extreme that in the past he has assisted police in his capacity as someone who has knowledge of firearms, particularly older firearms.
“It beggars belief that someone who has knowledge of firearms would then possess them without the necessary certification.”
He told the court the machine gun, which was manufactured in Czechoslovakia, had been legal when Churchman bought it in London in the 1980s.
As a deactivated weapon it could originally only fire blanks, however Churchman had reactivated it and adapted it to fire paintballs.
Mr Moggach said that the accused no longer claimed he had converted the weapon in his role as an adviser on a James Bond movie.
But the QC added: “He is adamant that he’s provided deactivated guns for use in theatre and in the film industry. But there’s no getting away from the fact that possession of the firearms is unlawful and he knows that because of the statutory requirements the court today must impose a custodial sentence of a minimum of five years imprisonment.”
Passing sentence, judge Lord Weir told Churchman, who moved to Whitehaven after the raid: “These were and are serious offences. You had a number of air weapons, a shotgun and a bolt action rifle, all without certificates.
In addition to jailing Churchman, Lord Weir granted a Crown motion to confiscate the guns and ammunition.
