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Blackpool man alleged to be international gun runner
AN international gun runner hid in Blackpool while police conducted a massive manhunt to track him down, a court heard.
Michael Sammon lived in Waterloo Road, South Shore, while he allegedly smuggled guns from Cologne in Germany into the UK.
A jury at Preston Crown Court heard how the weapons – originally set up as gas-firing flare guns – were then sold on to criminals after being converted to fire live rounds.
Philip Curran, prosecuting, told the court: "Some weapons were used with lethal force.
"There can be no doubt they are lethal and lives have been lost.
"They were smuggled into England where there was a ready market planning robberies, violence and murder."
It is alleged the gun running racket saw 274 weapons smuggled into the UK between April 2004 and September 2005.
Sammon, 49, is expected to stand trial for eight weeks after he was charged with conspiracy to possess firearms with the intent to endanger life, conspiracy to import prohibited items, conspiracy to manufacture firearms and conspiracy to possess ammunition.
The court heard how co-defendant Fiona McIntyre, 42, was landlady at
The Sun Inn, on Bolton Street, South Shore, when Sammon was wanted by the police.
The pair formed a relationship and the court heard how she helped Sammon secure an Irish passport using the identity of a dead man.
Despite this, when police came to visit she denied any knowledge of Sammon.
He also became friendly with co-defendant Colin Hughes, 43, of Bedford
Road, Lytham, through eating at Bev's Cafe, Hughes's wife's restaurant, near to his Waterloo Road address.
It is alleged Hughes moved Sammon from one address to another on the
Fylde coast after his case was highlighted on ITV crime show Manhunt.
The court heard how Hughes smuggled Sammon out in the back of a car, covered by a coat.
Throughout his time on the Fylde coast he also became friendly with Anthony Key, of Commonside, Ansdell, who was living in a caravan with
him in Southsea, near Portsmouth, when he was arrested with McIntyre.
All three co-defendants are charged with assisting an offender while
McIntyre also faces a charge of having custody and control of a false instrument.
They are joined in the dock by Andrew Thorley, 34, of Park Road, Denton,
Manchester, who is accused of conspiracy to manufacture firearms.
Thorley was living at an engineering plant in Manchester where Sammon
and another man Robert Tyrer – known as Bob the Gun – allegedly took the weapons to be converted to firing weapons.
Tyrer was jailed in 2006 having pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess
firearms with intent to endanger life, conspiracy to import firearms, conspiracy to manufacture firearms and conspiracy to possess ammunition.
The court was told customers from Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester, Yorkshire and Scotland paid 500 per weapon, although the value in Germany was as little as 30 to 50 euros
The price was hiked up to 750 with ammunition.
All defendants deny the charges.
(Proceeding)
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Friday 25 May 2012
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