Suspended sentence for former firearms dealer who had cache of unlicensed guns

A man who kept guns and ammunition illegally, including a loaded shotgun under his bed, has been sentenced at court.

Peter Frenette, 73, was formerly a firearms dealer but his licence was not renewed in April last year, Peterborough Crown Court heard.

However, police received information that he was still acting as a dealer and carried out a raid at his home in Great North Road, Little Paxton, in September last year. They found guns and ammunition for which he did not have a licence.

Frenette denied eight offences: acting as a firearms dealer when not registered, four counts of possessing a firearm without a certificate, two counts of possessing expanding ammunition without a certificate and failing to comply with the conditions of a shotgun certificate, related to the shotgun under his bed.

He was found guilty on all counts on Monday following a four-day trial and was given a 21 month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He is automatically banned from possessing any firearm for five years.

The court heard Frenette, who refused to attend the trial because he failed to recognise its jurisdiction, had his age taken into consideration for sentencing.

Ralph Barker, head of firearms and explosives licensing for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police, said: “Frenette deliberately flouted the law, against all the advice from the police.

“When people are registered as a firearms dealer they must keep proper records, which allow us to trace where weapons are and where they go. Those acting as unregistered dealers ultimately put the public in danger.”