Luke Parr, 23, gets 10.5 years for firearm crimes after converting blank firing guns into deadly weapons in his Dagenham shed.
Luke admitted his guilt earlier at the same court. His guilty plea covered all charges related to the firearms. The police arrested Luke Parr on June 10, 2024, for conspiracy to murder, following a shooting in Dagenham days earlier where the victim almost died.
After arresting him, officers searched Luke’s home and found a workshop in his back garden. He was running a firearms conversion factory there where officers found two converted handguns that could be lethal, along with ammunition and equipment to convert more guns.
Parr wasn’t charged for involvement in the shooting itself. The investigation showed he converted blank guns, turning them into deadly weapons. He used “top venting blank firers” from Turkey that are linked to criminal activities.
London and the UK see this a lot, including serious violence and murder. These guns were once legal to own, and people bought thousands legally. Now, they are easy to convert using simple tools, making owning them illegal.
A police specialist, Tim Mustoe, spoke on the issue, saying criminals change blank firing guns, which causes an ongoing risk. Parr made guns in his shed, and they could seriously harm people in London. His long sentence is appropriate.
The main thing is stopping people like Parr, and we must reduce the number of these guns. It is vital to have a successful amnesty because most owners bought these guns legally and did nothing wrong. Problems arise when the wrong people get them.
Mustoe asked people with these guns to act responsibly and hand them in at a police station during the amnesty. If people do this, police will not take action. If they wait, the consequences will be different.