An armourer who used his Lake District motorcycle repair garage as cover to supply deadly firearms to criminal gangs across the country has been jailed for 22 years.
Mechanic Dudley Brennan, 31, had boasted that engineering skill 'quite literally runs in my blood' when he opened the business in Kendal.
The Cumbria market town is famed for its sweet slabs of mintcake as well as being the birthplace of Postman Pat.
But behind the scenes, his garage was converting blank-firing guns into deadly weapons for gangsters based as far away as Somerset.
At the same time, the self-styled 'spanner monkey' was also plotting to set up a Breaking Bad-style crystal meth laboratory targeting vulnerable addicts.
However Brennan's secret criminal empire came crashing down when armed police swooped on his headquarters and ordered him outside at gunpoint.
Officers from the National Crime Agency took no chances, with a cordon placed around the industrial estate where he was based and an Army bomb disposal team on hand.
Searches of the garage revealed a firearms conversion factory where a Makarov-style semi-automatic pistol was in the process of being converted to fire 9mm ammunition, along with bullets and a silencer.
Armourer Dudley Brennan, 31, used his Lake District motorcycle repair garage as cover to supply deadly firearms to criminal gangs across the country
Brennan was arrested at gunpoint at his garage in Cumbria in March 2024, with investigators uncovering a firearms conversion factory
A Makarov-style semi-automatic pistol found at Brennan's garage along with bullets and a silencer was in the process of being converted to fire 9mm ammunition
Investigators found he had converted at least two submachine guns as well as a number of other pistols.
Brennan worked closely with Liverpool criminal Peter Weston, 40, who coordinated their organised crime group.
The duo hoped to make significant profit by converting top-venting blank firearms for gangs to use in feuds and turf-wars with other criminals.
A search of Brennan’s home in Kendal revealed a small crystal meth production lab in his kitchen, with messages showing he and Weston had discussed mass producing the Class A drug.
Brennan believed they could produce as much as 100 litres in a 12-hour period in a custom-built design that would be housed in a catering trailer and could be moved around.
He sent Weston a screenshot of an advertisement for a 1989 Chevrolet GMC Allegro for sale.
Weston, who was jailed in 2013 for 11 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine, responded by referencing the Netflix TV series about a chemistry teacher who turns to manufacturing crystal meth, writing: 'Ha, Breaking Bad.'
Brennan said he could claim the vehicle was for his business and stick it 'to the government as a business tax write-off'.
Mechanic Dudley Brennan, 31, was today jailed for 22 years after admitting conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited weapons as well as plotting to set up a Breaking Bad-style crystal meth laboratory
Peter Weston, 40, (left) was jailed for 26 years and nine months while Daniel Fitzgerald, 32, (right) was given an eight-year sentence
Ryan Pilling, 29, (left) was jailed for 13 years and seven months while Joshua Ee, 27, (right) was given a 13 years and six months sentence
Police swooped after Brennan took delivery of ten Turkish-made Ekol top-venting blank firearms (pictured) to his garage in Kendal, Cumbria
The pair did not have time to implement the plan before NCA officers arrested them in March 2024.
Both later admitted conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Today at Bolton Crown Court, Brennan was sentenced to 22 years and three months in jail while Weston, 40, of Norris Green, Liverpool, was given a sentence of 26 years and nine months.
Afterwards NCA branch commander Cat McHugh said: 'Brennan and the group were only interested in making money and didn’t care at all about the harm these firearms could do in our communities.
'They were a real danger to the public.
'Tackling the criminal use of firearms is an NCA priority and we will continue doing everything in our power to achieve that.'
When Brennan took over the former classic cars garage in 2021 with his mother as co-director after spending a decade in Australia, the pair spoke of how repairing vehicles was in his blood.
'Ever since he has been able to walk and talk he has been able to make engines and do things up,' Deborah Reese told a local news website.
Brennan added: 'Sadly the skills I possess are no longer taught anywhere.
'I come from a long line of world class engineers on both sides of my family so this quite literally runs in my blood.'
However he neglected to mention that he had amassed convictions for possession of a firearm and ammunition while living in Australia.
Officers from the NCA - dubbed Britain's FBI - were monitoring the gang and witnessed him taking delivery of 10 Turkish-made Ekol top-venting blank firearms to his Fell View Trading Park garage.
Weston had arranged a meeting at a car park in Lancaster for Brennan to take delivery of the guns from co-conspirators Daniel Fitzgerald and Ryan Pilling.
Investigators established they had purchased and converted 17 firearms - 12 of which have been recovered.
Weston was the gang's sales broker, putting other offenders in touch with armourer Brennan and facilitating the firearms’ onwards sale.
Pilling, 29, of Ashton, and Fitzgerald, 32, of Wigan, both admitted conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited weapons, and were jailed for 13 years and seven months and eight years respectively.
Joshua Ee, 27, of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, admitted the same offence for his role in handling the weapons and was jailed for 13 years and six months.
In February last year nearly 3,000 Turkish-made top-venting blank firearms (TVBFs) were surrendered in an amnesty organised by the NCA and National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Tests showed the firearms were readily convertible with common DIY tools without specialist skill and therefore illegal under the Firearms Act 1982.
Possession of one of the guns could result in a 10-year prison sentence.
A similar amnesty is currently underway for five types of Italian-made Bruni TVBFs.
