Man jailed for 'using home as a firearms and drugs factory'
A 53-year-old man has been jailed after police found he had set up a “firearms and drugs factory” in his home.
Neil McFarlane was arrested in December 2019 when West Yorkshire Police searched the house he shared with 39-year-old Anne Marie Moran.
Officers found equipment to make homemade firearms, and two rifles and ammunition were found hidden in a hedge at the Leeds property, West Yorkshire Police said.
Items that could also be used to make and convert guns were also found in the property’s shed.
About 40 plants were being cultivated in the spare bedroom, police said.
McFarlane admitted two counts of manufacturing a prohibited firearm, the manufacture of a firearm and three counts of possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate.
He also admitted the production and supply of class B controlled drugs and was given 13 years in jail at Leeds Crown Court.
Detective Superintendent Carl Galvin of West Yorkshire Police said: “McFarlane had basically set up a firearms and drugs factory in his home.
“His imprisonment is the result of excellent intelligence-led policing to disrupt and arrest dangerous criminals through Programme Precision, which looks to target serious and organised crime in West Yorkshire.
“McFarlane’s prison sentence reflects the seriousness of his role in this criminal enterprise and the threat to life that his activity caused.”
Moran was given a community order after admitting producing and supplying class B controlled drugs from the home.
The court indicated a further Proceeds of Crime Act hearing would take place.
