THREE men are behind bars awaiting prison sentences after they were this afternoon convicted by a jury of involvement in a plot to manufacture and transfer sub-machine guns made using a 3D printer.

Bradford men Christopher Gill and Majeeb Rehman, and Sibusiso Moyo who lectured in computer science at the city’s university, sat impassively in the dock at Sheffield Crown Court as the unanimous verdicts were returned.

The trial judge, the Honourable Mr Justice Nicholas Hilliard, remanded all three into custody saying that prison sentences were inevitable.

Moyo, 41, of Elloughton Grove, Hull, and Gill, 35, of Dick Lane, Laisterdyke, Bradford, were found guilty of conspiracy with others unknown to manufacture prohibited firearms.

They and Rehman, 46, of Central Avenue, Little Horton, Bradford, were convicted of conspiracy to transfer a prohibited firearm, an FGC-9 hybrid carbine sub-machine gun, to persons unknown on May 17, 2022.

Moyo and Gill were found guilty of possession of eight 9mm Luger cartridges without a firearms certificate.

Rehman was cleared of that charge.

Moyo and Gill were found guilty of two charges of having a prohibited weapon for sale or transfer.

Moyo was convicted of possession of an identity document with improper intention.

The jury was out for little over three hours before returning its verdicts.

Mr Justice Hilliard adjourned sentence to a date to be fixed in about six weeks’ time.

He ordered reports on all three defendants, saying he wanted to know more about the backgrounds of Gill and Rehman.

He praised the ‘very thorough’ police investigation and said he would speak more about that when he sentences the men.

During the trial, the jury 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 it had never seen such a weapon before.

Stephen Wood KC, for the Crown, said that Moyo and Gill were involved in the manufacture of the guns and Rehman was caught red-handed transporting one loaded with functioning bul-leted cartridges.

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. A cartridge from the magazine looked like it had been fired previously. There were 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 with it was the raw material used in 3D printing.

Moyo was a DNA match for swabs taken from seized items.

He was ‘intimately involved in the manufacturing process,’ Mr Wood stated.