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A NEWTOWNARDS man who attempted to import a ‘fearsome’ rifle used some of the worst mass shootings in the United States, has received a suspended prison sentence.
Sixty six year-old William McMullan, who tried to import an AR 15 rifle into Northern Ireland along with other guns and weapon parts, appeared at Downpatrick Crown Court on Friday after the weapons were discovered at a postal hub in England.
McMullan, of Loughdoo Road, admitted six counts of fraudulently attempting to import prohibited goods and received a ten month suspended prison sentence.
A sentencing hearing heard that Royal Mail staff and Border Force officers intercepted a package at Coventry Postal Hub on October 28, 2019. Inside the package was the rifle along with a 7.65 Browning pistol, a .38 revolver, two rifle barrels and a box of rifle magazines.
The National Crime Agency then carried out a search of McMullan’s Newtownards home where they found he had an extensive collection of firearms, already registered with the PSNI and covered by a firearms licence. However, they also found 14 additional weapons not covered by the licence and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
McMullan was arrested and explained that he had been a frequent visitor to Montana, in the United States, since 1984 and had been granted permanent status in 1998. He returned annually the States to work on a ranch and while there legally acquired several firearms, described in court as ‘exclusively antique single shot rifles and pistols’.
During a visit in 2019 he purchased the AR15 rifle and used a friend’s specialist machinery to alter the trigger mechanism to make it viable. He then parcelled the weapons up and sent them to the UK describing the contents of the package as ‘different types of tools’.
McMullan, who was a founder and senior member of the Cuan and District Shooting and Recreational Club, told police he knew how to import a firearm into Northern Ireland through a firearms dealer and admitted he knew he was committing an offence.
Passing sentence, Judge Geoffrey Miller KC, said McMullan had held a firearms licence since 1987 but he had allowed it to expire last month and accepts he will not be returning to his former sporting hobby.
The judge said it is ‘significant’ that no action was taken by the PSNI to revoke his licence after the discovery of the weapons.
“It is noted the defendant is an experienced armourer who not only should have known but who concedes he did know that what he was doing was not only wrong but illegal,” said Judge Miller.
“The most serious single aspect to this case is the attempt to import the AR 15, a weapon with a fearsome reputation used in many mass shootings in the US.
“His account is that he tried to make the weapon from scratch and intended to leave it with an elderly neighbour in Montana. But the man insisted he take it with him which led him to make the ‘remarkably foolish’ decision to import it in to the UK,” the judge explained.
The remaining parts and guns could have been legally held had they remained in the US or could have been legally added to his firearms certificates prior to his returning to UK.
The judge said had the AR15 gone undetected it would have been in Northern Ireland unregistered and unknown to the authorities leaving the ‘very real risk’ it could have been stolen from his home and found its way into the hands of terrorists or organised crime gangs ‘with frightening consequences’.
The judge ordered the destruction of all the seized weapons.
