Ex-soldier jailed over gun smuggling plot

Wade Priestley has been jailed for nine years and 10 months

A former soldier who admitted trying to smuggle guns into the UK in parcels labelled as car and bike parts has been jailed for nine years and 10 months.

Wade Priestley, 34, played a "key role" in the plot, on one occasion flying to Los Angeles himself to send a package containing a handgun to an address in Bradford.

The parcel was intercepted in November 2023, with a further four sent from the US containing bullets, guns and handgun kits seized in January.

Bradford Crown Court heard Priestley, of Hoyle Ing Road, Bradford, also produced marketing videos to attract buyers for the potentially lethal weapons.

Prosecutor Andrew Stranex said the polymer material used to make the items made them difficult to detect, but all five were intercepted before they arrived.

Priestley was caught when investigators sent a fake parcel to an address in Halifax and watched as he arrived at the property a short time later before arresting him.

Priestley had been due to stand trial in August but pleaded guilty to conspiracy to posses a firearm without a certificate on the first day of the hearing.

His barrister, Clodaghmuire Callinan, said her client had used his real name and bank cards to post the packages from the US and the offending had not be sophisticated.

Passing sentence Judge Sophie McKone said Priestley had “glamourised” what he was doing and said it was “sickening” watching the videos.

All five parcels were addressed to properties in Halifax and Bradford

Det Ch Insp Al Burns from the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit said: “Our investigation team quickly identified Wade Priestley as the man behind this conspiracy and our extensive investigations showed that he played a key role in both the sending of the parcels and how they would have been received.

“I have no doubt these firearms would have ended up in the hands of serious organised criminals where they would have posed a real danger to our communities had they not been intercepted.”

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