Suspended sentence for former firearms dealer who had cache of unlicensed guns
- Credit: Archant
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.
Most Read
- 1 Family pay tribute to brothers, 13 and 17, killed in horror BMW crash
- 2 Recap: Severe disruption on Great Northern and Thameslink trains to London
- 3 Met Office weather: Yellow storm and flood warning for East of England
- 4 Huge Victorian house with pool and gym on sale for £1.75m
- 5 Judge makes contempt of court ruling against Camp Beagle protesters
- 6 Food delivery robots taking to streets of Cambridgeshire
- 7 First episode of tractor TV show features farmer in Cambridgeshire
- 8 RSPCA investigating 'welfare of beagles' at Huntingdon dog breeding unit
- 9 Work starts on affordable 56-home development in Huntingdon
- 10 Jacob Crawshaw memorial football match raises more than £8,100
“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.”