Gang who made homemade "assassination kits" from Derbyshire back garden jailed for more than 60 years

Ronald Knowles, 64, converted around 33 replica pistols into live firearms as well as bullets from a workshop in his back garden in Alfreton.

He made 80 killing kits, which were packaged into boxes with silencers and latex gloves to help the shooters escape detection.

Knowles then passed them to notorious “drugs general” Gary Hardy, 61, who sold them from his home in Ravenshead, Notts.

The deadly kits were then sent to gangsters across the country and later recovered in places including the West Midlands and Essex.

Detectives managed to intercept some of the assassination kits in August 2023 during a vehicle stop in Measham, Leics., and tie it back to the gang through DNA evidence.

Inside the vehicle, they found a white box containing four firearms and evidence revealed at least 33 firearms had been manufactured in the gang’s factory.

When armed police swooped on Knowles’ home they caught him burning a “treasure trove” of evidence in his garden.

An outbuilding contained lathes and a drill that the weapons collector used to make the silencers and convert the pistols and ammunition.

Officers also seized throwing stars, machetes, crossbows and air weapons, and almost 1,000 bullets. Police said it was "one of the largest gun factory operations in the East Midlands."

The gang were jailed for a combined 61 years and six months at Nottingham Crown Court. Sentencing, Judge Mark Watson said: “The firearms were sold as part of what have rightly been described as ‘assassination kits’.

"You were in business together and you each brought your own set of skills and contacts to this enterprise. Each of you contributed in different but important ways. This was an ongoing enterprise bought to an end only by police intervention.”

Hardy was jailed for 23 years after being found guilty of conspiring to sell and convert firearms. Knowles was jailed for 13-and-a-half years after admitting the same charges.

Jason Hill, 23, of Risley, Derbys., was caught with two handguns, two silencers and ammunition in a safe hidden in his garden.

He was found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent by endanger life and jailed for four years.

Steven Houston, 65, of Corley, Warks., was found guilty of conspiring to sell and convert firearms and was jailed for 25 years.

The gun factory was discovered as part of an investigation into Hardy by Nottinghamshire Police and the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU).

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Adas, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “These are ruthless individuals that have a complete disregard for human life.

“They were creating, packaging and distributing firearms, which would have led to devastating consequences had they been used in public.

“Each handgun had been threaded to fit a silencer, which allowed the gun to be used discreetly at close quarters, meaning any potential targets would be lucky to escape with their lives.

“The rounds of ammunition were converted in such a way that upon impact they expanded causing maximum damage to any target.

“Our team of detectives have now closed arguably one of the biggest firearm factories in the East Midlands and taken a large quantity of firearms off the streets.

“The full impact of this investigation will never be seen – that’s because we are unable to count the number of lives we may have saved.

“If this operation had continued undetected, the strong likelihood is these weapons would have been used and people would have been killed or seriously harmed.

“To put this into context - considering that each Assassination Kit included 10 rounds of converted ammunition, the seizure of more than 800 blank firing rounds and nearly 800 lead pellets indicates that the group had the potential to supply up to 80 further firearms packages.

“So far, we have identified eight locations across the country where these specific converted firearms or ammunition have been seized.

“The majority were in the West Midlands. This was therefore a well-established and far-reaching criminal enterprise.

“These criminals have shown no remorse. They provided no comment in interview and have no care whatsoever for the damage they were willing to inflict on others.

“Their motives are likely to have been financial, providing weapons to criminals who in turn were using them to protect their drug operations.

“They have now paid the full price for their actions by being handed lengthy prison sentences.

“Hardy is likely to spend the remainder of his life behind bars, which sends out a clear message to those willing to get involved in this level of criminality.”