THE jury has retired to consider its verdicts in the trial of three men accused of involvement in a plot to manufacture and transfer sub-machine guns made using a 3D printer.

The panel this morning began their deliberations in the cases of Bradford men Christopher Gill and Majeeb Rehman and Sibusiso Moyo who lectured in computer science at the city’s university.

The jury has heard that a loaded sub-machine gun seized by the police from Rehman’s BMW on Rooley Lane in Bradford was manufactured using a 3D printer.

A trained firearms officer who inspected the gun had never seen such a weapon before, prosecutor Stephen Wood KC disclosed.

Gill, 35, of Dick Lane, Laisterdyke; Rehman, 46, of Central Avenue, Little Horton; and Moyo, 41, of Elloughton Grove, Hull, are on trial at Sheffield Crown Court denying any wrongdoing.

Moyo and Gill plead not guilty to conspiracy with others unknown to manufacture prohibited firearms.

All three men deny conspiracy to transfer a prohibited firearm, an FGC-9 hybrid carbine sub-machine gun, to persons unknown on May 17, 2022, and possessing ammunition, eight 9mm Luger cartridges, without a firearms certificate.

Moyo and Gill also deny two charges of having a prohibited weapon for sale or transfer.

Moyo pleads not guilty to possession of an identity document with improper intention.

Mr Wood alleges that Moyo and Gill were involved in the manufacture of the guns and that Rehman was caught red-handed transporting one loaded with functioning bulleted cartridges.

The jury heard that shortly after 7pm on May 17 last year, police officers carrying out surveillance saw Rehman park his blue BMW up on Darren Street in Bradford.

Gill then left his home nearby carrying a Bag for Life. He got into the rear of the BMW and quickly emerged without it.

At 7.28pm, the BMW was stopped on Rooley Lane by armed police. A search of the bag revealed a firearm manufactured from plastic and metal component parts. It seemed to an ex-pert officer to be a small sub-machine gun type weapon.

He took out a cartridge from the magazine that looked like it had been fired previously. He removed a total of eight rounds in all.

Shortly after Rehman was stopped, police officers went to Gill’s home and arrested him. In the loft at his address they found a holdall containing a firearm.

With the complete carbine was a component part for another firearm. Coiled black material on a photo shown to the jury was the raw material used in 3D printing.

Moyo was a DNA match for swabs taken from seized items, Mr Wood said. He alleged that he was ‘intimately involved in the manufacturing process.’ Moyo told the jury he knew nothing about firearms. His interest was in cars and the 3D printer was for making vehicle parts.

Gill and Rehman elected not to give evidence.

The trial continues.