[Image: Firearm produced using 3D printer]

Man sentenced in UK first conviction for firearms manufacture using a 3D printer.

Tendai Muswere, 26 (24.04.93), of Tachbrook Street, SW1, was sentenced today (Thursday, 19 September) to three years imprisonment in what is believed to be the first conviction and sentencing in the UK for manufacturing a firearm using a 3D printer.

The investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Jonathan Roberts, who led the investigation, said: “I hope that today’s sentencing sends a very clear and powerful message that we will prosecute anyone who thinks that they can get away with being in possession of, or manufacturing a firearm, in London.”

On Wednesday, 19 June at Southwark Crown Court, Tendai Muswere, 26 (24.04.93), of Tachbrook Street, SW1, pleaded guilty to a charge of manufacturing a firearm, namely a 3D printed gun.

Officers executed a drugs warrant at Muswere’s home in October 2017 and during the course of the operation found components of a 3D printed gun, capable of firing a lethal shot. Muswere, who does not hold a firearms licence, told officers that he was printing the firearm for a university project. He claimed not to be aware that the components he had made were capable of firing. He later refused to comment on what his film project was about.

A search of his internet search history revealed that he had viewed videos demonstrating how to use a 3D printer to manufacture firearms which fired live ammunition. The officers also discovered cannabis plants and evidence of cannabis cultivation.

A second raid on Muswere’s home in February 2018 resulted in the discovery of further components of a 3D printed gun.

DS Jonathan Roberts continues: “Muswere claimed that he was printing the firearms for a ‘dystopian’ university film project but he has not explained why he included the component parts necessary to make a lethal barrelled weapon. We know that Muswere was planning to line the printed firearms with steel tubes in order to make a barrel capable of firing.”

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