Former fire fighter jailed over gun haul
A former fire fighter who bought guns, ammunition and pepper spray over the internet has been jailed following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.
Tyrone Bahar, 43, from Slough, was arrested at Birmingham Airport on his return from a holiday in Jamaica after he was identified purchasing illicit items from Europe.
The haul of illegal items included a revolver, a forward venting blank firing pistol, eight spray canisters, two stun guns, 569 rounds of ammunition, a machete and an extendable baton. At his mother’s address, three further firearms, a stun gun and 145 rounds of ammunition was found.
Bahar first claimed he believed the guns were legal but was going to hand them in at the next police amnesty and that the spray canisters found in his cars had been put there by the garage.
He went on to plead guilty to five counts of possession of a prohibited firearm, two counts of possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate and five counts of possessing a prohibited weapon.
On February 1 he was sentenced to five years in prison at Kingston Crown Court.
Mark McCormack, branch commander at the NCA, said: “Bahar hid these weapons around his home, cars and the homes of family members in an attempt to avoid their detection. These illegal firearms are, or can be converted to, lethal weapons and make their way into the hands of organise criminals.
“Recovering Bahar’s significant haul has removed a number of dangerous weapons from circulation. We will continue to work with law enforcement partners to target those who think they can bring these weapons into the UK.”
Bahar was targeted as part of Project Vizardlike, a national NCA-led operation targeting people buying illegal firearms online and importing them into the UK. Since 2018, more than 550 prohibited weapons and 3500 rounds of ammunition have been seized in the UK by the NCA and police forces as part of the project.
