One senior member of the OCG, from Liverpool, played the role of a sales broker as they sold guns to gangs fighting in turf-warsMoment Dudley Brennan is arrested
The moment armed police stormed a gun factory hidden in plain site as a motorcycle garage has been released following the sentencing of a crime group that armed gangs fighting in turf wars. Career criminal Peter Weston, from Norris Green, worked as the sales broker for his organised crime group (OCG) while Dudley Brennan operated a firearms conversion factory in his motorcycle garage in Kendal, Cumbria.
Brennan, 31, converted weapons for criminals from Cumbria to Somerset using the rouse of his motorcycle repairs business in the Lake District. He worked closely with 40-year-old Weston who coordinated their OCG. The pair planned to make significant profit by converting top-venting blank firearms (TVBF) for OCGs to use in feuds and turf wars with other criminals.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) found Brennan had converted at least two submachine guns as well as a number of other pistols. He was also found to be at the centre of a plot to produce crystal meth alongside Weston as they joked their operation could resemble that of Netflix TV show Breaking Bad.
On Monday, February 23, Weston was jailed for his role in the crime group alongside three other members. It was heard how on March 7, 2024, NCA officers raided Brennan’s South Lakes Motorcycles business premises on at Fell View Trading Park in Kendal after he was seen taking delivery of 10 Turkish-made Ekol TVBFs.
Peter Weston, 40, of Sparrow Hall Road, Norris Green
Inside the workshop, officers found a firearms conversion factory and also recovered a Makarov style semi-automatic pistol which was in the process of being converted to fire 9mm ammunition, a quantity of bullets and a silencer.
The NCA collected evidence that showed the OCG had bought and converted 17 firearms – 12 of which have been recovered. Intelligence has been shared with partners of the NCA about the five missing guns.
Weston worked closely with Brennan and was the sales broker for the OCG as he put other offenders in touch with the group armourer Brennan and facilitated the sale of the firearms.
Dudley Brennan, 31, of Sandes Avenue, Kendal
In footage released by the NCA of Brennan’s arrest at his garage, armed police can be seen demanding he leave the building before they handcuff him and take him away.
Five members were part of the OCG, with them appearing in Bolton Crown Court on Monday where they were sentenced for their roles in the operation.
Weston was jailed back in 2013 for 11 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine. This week he was sentenced to 26 years and nine months for his latest offences. Brennan was sentenced to 22 years and three months in prison. They both also admitted to conspiracy to supply a class A drug.
A Makarov style semi-automatic pistol recovered from Brennan’s firearm conversion factory
During a search of Brennan’s home, a small methylamphetamine production lab was found in his kitchen. Evidence further showed that he and Weston discussed mass producing methylamphetamine.
Brennan believed the pair could produce as much as 100 litres of the class A drug in a 12-hour period in a custom-built design that would be housed in a catering trailer and could be easily moved around.
He was also found to have sent a screenshot of an advert for a 1989 Chevrolet GMC Allegro for sale. Weston replied: “Ha, Breaking Bad.”
One of Brennan’s Turkish-made Ekol TVBFs
Brennan said he would be able claim the vehicle was for business use and would stick it to the government as a business tax write-off”. However, the NCA stopped their plans before they were able to implement their Netflix-inspired drug plot.
Ryan Pilling, 29, of Wigan Road, Ashton, Daniel Fitzgerald, 32, of Winstanley Road, Wigan, and Joshua Ee, also known as Xing Kwang Joshua, 27, of Malvern Avenue, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, all admitted to conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited weapons.
Pilling was sentenced to 13 years and seven months, and Fitzgerald to eight years. Ee was jailed for 13 years and six months when his fingerprints were found on a gun in Widnes, Cheshire.
Ammo discovered in Brennan’s firearm conversion factory in Kendal
NCA branch commander Cat McHugh said: “I’d like to thank Cheshire Police for their support, and also Cumbria Police, MoD and the other emergency services who helped us that night because when we went through Brennan’s door we did not know the full extent of the threat he posed.
“Brennan and the group were only interested in making money and didn’t care at all about the harm these firearms could do in our communities. They were a real danger to the public.
“Tackling the criminal use of firearms is an NCA priority and we will continue doing everything in our power to achieve that.”
In February last year, nearly 3,000 Turkish-made TVBFs were surrendered in an amnesty organised by the NCA and National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Tests showed the firearms were readily convertible with common DIY tools without specialist skill and therefore illegal under section 1 (6) of the Firearms Act 1982 meaning they are prohibited firearms under section 5 (1) of the Firearms Act 1968. Possession of one of the guns could result in a 10-year prison sentence.
A similar amnesty is currently underway for five types of Italian-made Bruni TVBFs.
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