Man jailed for 3D-printed gun and terror offences

Robinson's interests in extreme right-wing ideology began when he was 17, the prosecution said

A 20-year-old man who tried to use a 3D printer to make a semi-automatic pistol has been jailed for six years and six months.

Jack Robinson, of Hawthorne Crescent, Portsmouth, Hampshire, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court for attempting to manufacture a weapon and possessing documents that could be used for preparing an act of terrorism.

He was also sentenced for making and possessing indecent images of children.

Mrs Justice McGowan ruled Robinson, who had "an interest in profoundly racist and anti-Semitic material", was a danger to the public.

Jack Robinson was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court

The court heard how Robinson was arrested at his home on 17 February 2023, where police seized items including a 3D printer and 3D-printed firearm.

They also took his laptops and computers, which contained more than 400 documents with information on explosives, the court was told.

He was also found to have downloaded more than 800 indecent images of children.

Prosecutor Naomi Parsons said Robinson had purchased the printer just days after his 18th birthday and used it to print parts for a FGC 9 MK 2, semi-automatic pistol.

She described it as "a very intricate and detailed operation" and said that although it was not finished "he was very close to completion".

The court heard how Robinson had a guide on how to make and use the gun as well as how to make ammunition.

Ms Parsons said he also had a file on "how to make explosives and IED's" saved in a folder titled "interesting reading".

Internet's 'darkest corners'

She said Robinson's interests in extreme right-wing ideology began when he was 17, and in conversations online he write that he "hates Jews" and "denied the holocaust".

He also adopted usernames like "kill Jews" and purchased a copy of Mein Kampf, the 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, she said.

Robinson claimed he was only planning to test the weapon and use it for target practice, according to his defence barrister Graham Gilbert.

Mr Gilbert argued that Robinson was a "a keen observer" rather than a participant in the terror-related content that he viewed.

He said Robinson spent a "staggering" amount of time on the internet "attempting to belong in a way he had been unable to in the outside world".

This led him to "the darkest corners and the darkest parts of the internet" where he became "stuck" down a rabbit hole, Mr Gilbert said.

Robinson was given an extended license period of three years.

He will be added to the sexual offenders register for seven years.