Army weapons officer stole £70,000 worth of guns from his base and sold them to collectors, court hears
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i think i will wait till the case is finished and those involved are allowed to tell thier side of the story.
i have a feeling the reality will be considerably less exciting than the newspaper article infers it to be.
It's the prosecution opening statement, which was clearly targeted at that level, and the press 'deadly assault rifles' hysteria.
It is one of the disadvantages of the British legal system that the defence comes much later, by which time the newspapers have probably got bored with it.
Wait until the defence puts its case, the summing up, and the verdict, which will paint a truer picture.
There are two sides to every story, all we have so far is trial by media.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the L98A1 Cadet GP rifles which (it was reported by owners were confiscated by the MOD police) from legal UK gun owners without any compensation.
I really do hope so, but I fear British firearms laws are very strict, and when involving military weapons much more so. I have exchanged several emails with Peter over the years and was honored to supply some reproductions (paper products and the like) I have made at his request to him. In fact, he owes me a beer which now I see is highly unlikely. Over the years he has been quite generous in supply this forum with materials and expert advice, all at no gain to himself. I could only wish this was not happening. I will continue to follow this trial and post the results to this forum. None of this in any way diminishes my respect for Mr. Laidler.
Where is the word "allegedly" in the title of that story!!
Out of respect for the Captain I am sure most of us do not want to make conjecture on this situation, however I can imagine if the military did lose these firearms in suspicious circumstances but on THEIR OWN fault they would no doubt turn to put the blame on someone else in order to not look stupid.
We can only help it all goes well.
Doesn't alter my perception of the man one way or the other.
Here's a two finger salute to Fake News........
ditto warpig.
nijal i would be very surprised if anything was "lost" at all. i imagine all the relevant paper work was filled out and filed. all weapons parts were made in to non weapons parts as they were supposed to be.
any complete weapons that left the pattern room collection did so in circumstances favorable to the collection. etc.
i really struggle to believe that someone who has freely given so much for the betterment of the community and will help any random stranger that asks, would actively harm the very collection he is tasked with caring for. it just doesn't gel.