WIREDGOV

Two brothers have been jailed for five years each for smuggling 22 stun guns disguised as torches into the UK following a National Crime Agency investigation.

Donatas, aged 27, and Giedrius Armalys, aged 23, both Lithuanian nationals, were also given three and two months respectively to run concurrently for having indecent images of children on their mobile phones.

They were sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court recently (1 October), after pleading guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing.

The NCA investigated the pair after Border Force officers stopped the brothers in a car at Dover Eastern Docks on 10 March. A search of the vehicle uncovered 22 stuns guns, and £10,445 in cash.

The indecent images were discovered as investigators carried out checks on their phones.

NCA Branch Commander, Matt Rivers, said:

“One of the stun guns recovered was capable of delivering a 50,000 volt shock. In the hands of violent criminals or gangs these are extremely dangerous weapons which have the potential to cause serious harm.

“Stun guns are prohibited weapons and neither of the brothers would give an explanation as to why they were bringing them into the UK. Given the number seized we believe they would have ended up being sold on the black market.

“We will continue to work with our Border Force colleagues to target those bringing illegal weapons into the UK, and those caught with items of this nature can expect to serve a prison sentence."

Paul Morgan, Director of Border Force South East and Europe, said:

“We are determined to prevent potentially deadly weapons such as these from reaching the UK’s streets.

“As well as making physical checks on arriving vehicles and cargo, Border Force works with their fellow law enforcement partners, like the National Crime Agency (NCA), to detect and stop dangerous weapons at the border.

"Our work led to the seizure of more than 10,000 offensive weapons last year.”