A BOASTFUL mob boss bragged “we are now offically gangsters” after
smuggling £100,000 worth of deadly weapons into the UK, a court heard today.
Harry Shilling was allegedly the ringleader behind a plot to sneak 22 assault
rifles and nine sub-machine guns into Britain by boat from Eastern Europe.
The Albernina cruiser dropped anchor with his massive arsenal of weapons at
Cuxton Marina, near Rochester in Kent, on August 10 last year after sailing
through the River Medway from Boulogne, France.
If the “evil” weapons had found their way to the criminal underworld
they could have unleahsed “carnage on a terrifying scale”, jurors heard.
But luckily the gang was foiled by the National Crime Agency (NCA) who seized
the cargo before it could be passed into the wrong hands.
Shilling, 25, is on trial at the Old Bailey for gun smuggling and possessing
firearms with intent to endanger life, along with gang members Michael
Defraine, 30, John Smale, 58, and Jennifer Arthy, 42, who face the same
charges.
Co-conspirators Richard Rye, 24, David Payne, 43, and Christopher Owen, 30,
acted as “go-betweens”, the court heard, and did not dispute the
plot as they all pleaded guilty.
But Shilling planned the plot with help from his man on the Continent,
Defraine, who both paid Payne to drive the boat which brought the guns into
the country, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said.
READ MORE:
Smugglers
snort in the act: Brit gang caught smuggling £500m of cocaine in Masterchef
packages
Al
Carpone mob traffic £300k fish
Phone records show how Shilling and Defraine, who travelled regularly to the
Continent, planned their smuggling route.
“Compelling evidence” exposing their involvement in the plot was
found on their BlackBerry mobile phones which NCA officals were able to tap.
On August 10 – the day of the voyage – Payne texted Rye, “All done”,
before Shilling sent a email to Defraine which read, “There (sic) home”.
In a later email, Shilling boasted, “We now officially gangsters”,
to which Defraine responded: “F***ing nice one.”
Shilling replied: “Hahahaha defo that’s sick. Duck and run for cover
bitches. We are a firm ant we.”
Defraine allegedly replied: “Proper heavy and armed to the teeth no one
wants beef fam.”
Mr Atkinson said on August 11, Shilling, Defraine and Rye went to DIY store
Homebase to buy bags and tools to bury the weapons until they were needed.
The 22 AK47-style Czech assault rifles were thought to be sold at “shockingly
low” prices in Eastern Europe, but could have fetched up to £4,000 in
the UK.
Meanwhile each “sought after” Skorpion machine gun is believed to be
worth up to £3,500 a piece.
Mr Atkinson said: “The prosecution contends that these guns were more
than trophies — they were working weapons and they came with a large amount
of working ammunition.
“The defendants intended these guns to be used, and to be used with
ammunition, for the purpose for which they were designed — as lethal weapons
capable of unleashing carnage on a terrifying scale – and they clearly
intended to profit from doing so.”
Shilling, from Swanley, Defraine, from Bexleyheath, Smale, from Rochester, and
Arthy, who lived with Payne on a houseboat in Cuxton, deny the charges
against them.
Payne and Rye, from Swanley, have also admitted a conspiracy to supply
firearms that would be used by others to endanger life.
Trial continues.