A firearms supplier who stashed guns in his three year old daughter’s bedroom in north London has been jailed for eight years.
Darren Dixon, 32, was arrested in October 2019 after officers raided his Kentish Town home.
The haul of 26 firearms included five handguns with loaded magazines, a sawn-off shotgun and a pump action shotgun, which were found in the room where the toddler slept.
Explosives, gunpowder and live ammunition, as well as zombie knives, smoke grenades and garrotes, were also seized along with fake police IDs.
They even found a rejected application to join the Metropolitan police and Met issue body armour.
Dixon was sentenced to eight years at Southwark Crown Court on Friday after he admitted being involved in the importation, conversion and sale of prohibited firearms and pleaded guilty to all 15 charges against him.
The court had heard that he sold weapons and told police when he was arrested: “It has become a bit of an addiction [sic] with these guns.”
The National Crime Agency (NCA) and Met officers carried out the raid where equipment to put decommissioned weapons back into use was also seized.
Detective Inspector Richard Smith from the Metropolitan Police Service said: “Dixon was found in possession of an alarming amount of lethal weapons – with some of them even shockingly being hidden where his child slept. “We know that Dixon went on to sell some of these illegal firearms.
“Thankfully this intricate investigation by the Organised Crime Partnership resulted in 26 firearms and a host of other dangerous weapons being seized, which ultimately means that they will never be used to harm someone.
“Firearms have absolutely no place in London and we are committed to robustly targeting both those who carry them and those who supply them.”
The NCA’s work under Project Vizardlike targeted customers buying forward venting blank firing weapons online and importing them into the UK.
Since November 2018, at least 522 prohibited weapons and 3500 rounds of ammunition have been seized in the UK by the NCA and police forces as part of this project, and 83 people have been arrested.
Matthew Perfect, NCA firearms threat lead, said: “Dixon was a significant importer and supplier of weapons who was found with an extremely dangerous haul in his home.“This investigation removed these lethal firearms from circulation, along with the risk that they could end up in the hands of organised criminals.“
Our work with overseas partners to target these online marketplaces is key to helping us reduce the number of illegal guns in the UK.
“These weapons are used in acts of serious violence, often by criminals involved in drugs supply, to coerce and intimidate. Supressing their availability is a priority for the NCA and UK law enforcement.”
