Jailed, loner who made guns using 3D printer
a LONER student convicted of making guns using a 3d printer was jailed for three years yesterday.
tendai Muswere, 26, claimed he made the revolver and handgun as props for a university film project.
But he threw firearm components out of his kitchen window as police entered his home for a search last year, Southwark Crown Court heard.
the former media studies student at London South Bank university pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of possession and two of manufacturing the prohibited firearms – the first such prosecution in the uK.
Police had searched his home in 2017 and again last year, discovering 3d printers and firearms components, as well as cannabis.
Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC said Muswere had searched the internet for instructions to print 3d component parts for the firearms.
he added: ‘On the second occasion police came to your house, you were clearly aware of the illegality of your actions as you threw parts of a firearm out the kitchen window.’
Muswere had claimed he was not aware the gun frames he had made would be capable of firing but his internet search history showed he had looked for steel tubing which, when added to the firearms, made them usable. While the judge said Muswere’s motive remained ‘unclear’, he dismissed the excuse that he had wanted to use the weapons as props for a film.
Muswere’s lawyer John Kearney said his client was a ‘quite complex and unusual individual’ but argued he was not violent. he added: ‘he’s something of a loner, somebody who has a long history of mental illness, not somebody with a history of violence or somebody with a history of an association with criminals.’
Claire holder from the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘Muswere claimed that the firearms found in his flat were made for a university film project.
‘however, he was using 3d designs found on the internet which were specifically for the making of live firearms. evidence also showed that he had made repeated attempts to print the weapons, which we believe showed that he was trying to perfect a workable firearm.’