An IT manager who posed as a vengeful woman on the dark web so he could buy a handgun has been jailed.
Darren Hillyer, 38, tried to have the firearm and 50 rounds of ammunition delivered to his workplace in Euston, where he had told colleagues he worked for the intelligence and security services.
He told the middle man, 47-year-old Ian MacPhee, he was a woman called Emma who wanted to exact revenge on a paedophile ex-lover.
But the National Crime Agency had been tipped off and got to the package first, placing a plastic replica inside a radio they could track. They arrested Hillyer at work.
When they interviewed him he even claimed he had bought the gun as “research” so he could apply to join the NCA itself.
Senior investigating officer Peter Vernon said: “Hillyer appeared to be using the dark web to play out a fantasy.
“His sentencing has hopefully provided a dose of reality for those looking to illegally purchase firearms online under the supposed anonymity of dark web forums.
“It is another reminder to criminals: you can be tracked and brought to justice.”
Colleagues at the central London insolvency firm where Hillyer headed an IT operation described him as a “fantasist” and “Walter Mitty type character”.
Milton Keynes man Hillyer was jailed for five years after admitting conspiracy to import a firearm and ammunition.
MacPhee, of Newton Abbot, was fined £275 after pleading guilty to attempting to evade duty on an imported item.
