Former police officer who amassed ‘treasure trove’ of weapons jailed

A former police officer who had extreme far right views and stashed a “treasure trove” of weapons inside his home has been jailed for more than five years.

Andrew Campbell, 42, had amassed a collection of potentially deadly modified firearms, as well as crossbows, knives, batons and knuckle dusters, Nottingham Crown Court heard on Thursday.

The former officer, who was dismissed from Nottinghamshire Police in April 2017 for gross misconduct, was jailed for five years and 10 months for possession of an air rifle and a sound moderator without a certificate and two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon, in relation to CO2 powered revolvers, by Judge Nirmal Shant KC.

Campbell’s home in Nottingham Road, Toton, and a storage unit connected to him were searched in January, and a “treasure trove” of weapons were discovered, prosecutor Anwar Nashashibi told the court.

These included 11 air rifles, one of which was found in his storage unit, and CO2 powered and imitation firearms, some of which had been modified to increase their power.

Mr Nashashibi said the search also turned up a baton in the living room, whips and other contact weapons in the dining room and a metal cosh on the stairs, as well as a box of batons and sticks and a box of catapults in his bedroom.

He also had collected, in boxes on an open shelf, metal and pointed missiles and darts, while arrows and a knuckle duster were also found in the property.

Two crossbows were found hidden in a wardrobe, with Mr Nashashibi clarifying that while they were not illegal to keep in the property, they would be if they were taken outside and were “obviously highly dangerous”.

He said: “In short, this was a large number of weapons in boxes, in cupboards, and simply laying all around the house.

“The weapons look like real guns and aren’t marketed as paintball guns, they were marketed for training and self-defence use.

“The weapons used with pointed projectiles would have lethal capacity and could have been highly dangerous.”

He said Campbell’s interest in the weapons was “their capacity to injure, not paintballing”.

After his arrest, Campbell told police he used the air rifles to shoot rats and as target practice in his garden and that he never took them out of the property.

But Mr Nashashibi said messages Campbell had sent to others indicated threats to use them against intruders, and also suggested he had “extreme” far right views, including references to using the weapons, which he had heavily modified, on Muslims and pro-Palestine supporters.

A search of his devices also uncovered videos he had sent in September 2023 of him testing weapons by firing them into a bucket of towels and boasting that the pellet went through two layers of folded cloth.

There was also evidence of Campbell, who has a diagnosis of autism, dismantling guns and testing them post-modification and making videos explaining the process, as well as a photo of him wearing a gun in a holster.

Defending Campbell, who appeared for sentencing via video link from HMP Nottingham, where he sat in a room writing in a notepad and wearing a beaded necklace with a cross on it, barrister Jonathan Duffy said he had a “fascination” with the weapons.

He said Campbell owned a collection of many different types of firearms and had written and published books about them.

Mr Duffy said: “He possessed a lot weapons, they were held as part of a wider collection and weren’t held with any criminal intention.”

Two other counts on the indictment faced by Campbell, of collection of information contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000, were ordered to lie on file.

Judge Shant said she had put those counts “completely out of my mind” as she sentenced Campbell.

She said that he had been “reckless” by storing the dangerous weapons in “insecure” locations inside his home.

She said: “This isn’t a case where there was minimal risk of death or harm or a distress caused. The weapons looked real and are frightening.”

Of his extreme views, Judge Shant said: “This is a case where what you say makes for disturbing reading, but you cannot and will not be punished for your views.

“You are someone of good character, it is clear you should have and did know that possessing these weapons with the power you added to it was highly illegal.”