Bradford gunrunner jailed for importing weapons from USA to UK

Jailing Wade Priestley at Bradford Crown Court, Her Honour Judge Sophie McKone said: “Over a three-month period you conspired with others to bring lethal weapons into this country.

“Weapons that were capable of killing, and causing fear.

“Weapons you must have intended to sell to other criminals where they would no doubt be used to demonstrate their power over others [and] to potentially kill others.

“In the UK the purpose of these weapons can only be for the furtherance of some sort of crime. Crime in which people get killed, where innocent bystanders including children risk being shot and killed.”

Wade Priestley (Image: Police) She said “sickening” sales videos that had been set to music “glamourised” the guns to make them attractive to potential buyers and told Priestley: “But you didn’t care about any of that at the time because you just wanted to make some money.

“It was sickening watching those videos.”

She sentenced Priestley, 34, of Hoyle Ing Road, Thornton, Bradford, to nine years and ten months in prison.

One of the polymer guns (Image: Police)

Prosecutor Andrew Stranex said Priestley bought six weapons in the USA between November 2023 and January this year and posted them to the UK.

The court heard that the polymer handguns, which could discharge real ammunition and when assembled were “potentially lethal”, were sent from fake addresses in California to addresses in Bradford and Halifax where they would be recovered.

The firearms are prohibited in English law.

UK Border Force staff in Coventry intercepted a parcel on November 17 last year that was labelled as a mountain bike brake set.

A polymer gun (Image: Police)In fact it contained a clear, heat-sealed bag containing a polymer handgun with working parts made up of a grip, trigger, trigger guard, and magazine release clip plus a separate top slide with rifled barrel.

The parcel, labelled as a gift and valued at $85, had been posted from California four days earlier.

The firearm was removed and the parcel allowed to go on to delivery where it was intercepted by police.

An investigation showed that Priestley had travelled to Los Angeles from London Heathrow on November 1 and returned 16 days later.

During that time he was seen in US postal facilities sending parcels off.

Mr Stranex said: “Bank account details, flight tickets, [and] telephone evidence coordinates to tie him to the buying, sending, and delivery of the parcels. Four parcels were sent by Priestley on that trip to the United States. They contained weapons.”

In messages sent after his return to the UK Priestley expressed concerns about the parcel sent to Bradford but at that stage he did not know it had been intercepted.

On January 27 this year a further parcel was sent from California to an address in Halifax labelled as brake equipment and valued at $100. It was also intercepted in Coventry by UK Border Force.

It contained component parts to make two full handguns.

The parcel was delivered on February 1 as officers kept the address under surveillance. Priestley arrived in a silver Audi an went inside, emerging with a white cardboard box which he took to waste ground and tried to set on fire.

Armed undercover police arrived as well as several vehicles and Priestley was arrested after first trying to escape by ramming the police cars and then running off.

Mr Stranex said messages recovered from Priestley’s phone showed that he was in contact with a large number of people and that guns were sold “almost as soon as they arrived” in the UK.

Priestley was said to have a leading role in a “sophisticated” operation.

Priestley pleaded guilty to conspiring to acquire possession of dutiable goods with fraudulent intent on the first day of a trial.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Al Burns of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit (YHROCU), said: “Our investigation team quickly identified Wade Priestley as the man behind this conspiracy and our extensive investigations showed that he played a key role in both the sending of the parcels and how they would have been received.

“I have no doubt these firearms would have ended up in the hands of serious organised criminals where they would have posed a real danger to our communities had they not been intercepted.”

“Our officers worked closely with agencies on both sides of the Atlantic during the course of this investigation and I am pleased that the diligence and cooperation of all involved has ensured these potentially lethal weapons could not be put to use on our streets.”

West Yorkshire Police said other packages destined for Bradford were seized in the US before coming to the UK. Two parcels each containing a handgun were seized on January 5. Another parcel containing 20 bullets was seized on January 19.

During the investigation the YHROCU worked the following partner agencies: US Homeland Security, US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, US Customs and Border Protection, US Postal Inspection Service, the National Crime Agency, UK Border Force, Garda Sochána, the Royal Mail, and West Yorkshire Police.