An armourer who converted blank-firing guns into lethal firearms and plotted to manufacture crystal meth in the Lake District has been locked up for over two decades. Dudley Brennan, 31, received 22 years and three months behind bars following a National Crime Agency (NCA) crackdown.
Criminal Duo’s Deadly Scheme
Brennan, operating under the cover of a motorcycle repair shop in Kendal, was the gun fixer for an organised crime gang spanning Cumbria to Somerset. He worked hand in glove with Liverpool crime boss Peter Weston, 40, who ran the operation.
Together, they aimed to flood the streets with converted top-venting blank firearms (TVBFs), used by criminals in violent turf wars. Brennan turned at least two submachine guns and multiple pistols into deadly weapons.
They also plotted to mass-produce methylamphetamine, better known as crystal meth, with Weston, a convicted drug trafficker from Norris Green.
Major NCA Raid Uncovers Firearms Factory
On 7 March 2024, NCA officers struck at Brennan’s Kendal base after catching him receiving 10 Turkish-made Ekol TVBFs. Weston had arranged for Brennan to pick up the guns at a Lancaster car park, where co-conspirators Daniel Fitzgerald, 32, and Ryan Pilling, 29, handed them over.
Inside the workshop, officers found a full firearms conversion set-up. Among the haul was a Makarov semi-automatic pistol mid-conversion to fire 9mm bullets, ammunition, and a silencer.
The gang had purchased and converted 17 weapons in total. Authorities have recovered 12, with investigations ongoing to trace the rest.
Sentences Handed Down to Crime Gang Members
- Dudley Brennan – 22 years 3 months
- Peter Weston – 26 years 9 months
- Ryan Pilling – 13 years 7 months
- Daniel Fitzgerald – 8 years
- Joshua Ee, 27, from Doncaster – 13 years 6 months
Weston acted as the gang’s sales broker, connecting buyers with Brennan’s deadly creations. Pilling and Fitzgerald helped orchestrate the illegal firearms business, with Fitzgerald ordering the guns online for conversion.
The NCA described the operation as a serious threat to public safety, praising officers who dismantled the gang behind the weapons trade and drug plans.
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