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Seems a bit harsh

woodster - 18/8/12 at 10:06 PM

The guys 74 and disabled ! I'm all for being tough on crime But it seems a bit harsh

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/9881782.Cannon_maker_tells_of_his_hell_in_prison/

Be careful what you decides your next project

SteveWalker - 18/8/12 at 10:16 PM

It's not like he (or anyone else) was likely to go and hold up the local bank with it.

wylliezx9r - 18/8/12 at 10:18 PM

Very harsh, my guess is he's not an immagrant since he didn't get a mansion when he left prison.

AdrianH - 18/8/12 at 10:25 PM

Perhaps because of this line, who knows?

'Although he had both a gun licence and an explosives licence, a number of the weapons were not registered, including the cannon.'

Adrian

liam.mccaffrey - 18/8/12 at 10:37 PM

Difficult one, ive got a firearms and I would not even contemplate building or acquiring a firearm without the proper paperwork.

Harsh maybe, but reading between the lines he seems to have developed a slightly lax attitude to towards firearms liscensing and the rules are there to prevent the wrong people getting hold of weapons.

I am sure there a great many communities in the states who wish they gun laws like ours.

blakep82 - 18/8/12 at 11:51 PM

yeah its harsh now, but when he goes mental and tries to blow up half the town, the same folk saying its harsh will then say why wasn't anything done about it back then...

its a lose/lose situation i guess. but, yeah, i think its very harsh, but what was he going to do with it?!

i reckon on here, we've just about all got the materials to make some kind of firearm. even if its just a mortar made from some steel tube, a potato, a spray of an aerosol and a lighter

AndyW - 19/8/12 at 05:49 AM

quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
yeah its harsh now, but when he goes mental and tries to blow up half the town, the same folk saying its harsh will then say why wasn't anything done about it back then...

its a lose/lose situation i guess. but, yeah, i think its very harsh, but what was he going to do with it?!

i reckon on here, we've just about all got the materials to make some kind of firearm. even if its just a mortar made from some steel tube, a potato, a spray of an aerosol and a lighter

Saves me posting a "new project suggestion" thread. Thanks!

matt_claydon - 19/8/12 at 07:50 AM

quote:

He built the device for his brother to use in American Second World War re-enactment.

Didn't know the yanks were still using cannon in WW2! Wrong war I think...

scootz - 19/8/12 at 09:10 AM

quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
Perhaps because of this line, who knows?

'Although he had both a gun licence and an explosives licence, a number of the weapons were not registered, including the cannon.'

Adrian

Yup... the article is focusing on the canon because of the ridiculous image it conjures up. He had other unlicensed firearms in his possession which the press are conveniently choosing not to list.

MakeEverything - 19/8/12 at 09:47 AM

I would suspect that the lengthy term (minimum term for firearm offences) was as a result of having other unregistered firearms as well.

Either way, what were the snipers doing in his house, why were there so many of them, and why the need for a helicopter!?? A classic sign of the police not doing their reconaissance or investigation work properly (if at all), and being too heavy handed with a disproportionate use of resource. IMO of course.

woodster - 19/8/12 at 10:10 AM

quote:
Originally posted by AndyW

quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
yeah its harsh now, but when he goes mental and tries to blow up half the town, the same folk saying its harsh will then say why wasn't anything done about it back then...

its a lose/lose situation i guess. but, yeah, i think its very harsh, but what was he going to do with it?!

i reckon on here, we've just about all got the materials to make some kind of firearm. even if its just a mortar made from some steel tube, a potato, a spray of an aerosol and a lighter

Saves me posting a "new project suggestion" thread. Thanks!

Pmsl

woodster - 19/8/12 at 10:14 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz

quote:
Originally posted by AdrianH
Perhaps because of this line, who knows?

'Although he had both a gun licence and an explosives licence, a number of the weapons were not registered, including the cannon.'

Adrian

Yup... the article is focusing on the canon because of the ridiculous image it conjures up. He had other unlicensed firearms in his possession which the press are conveniently choosing not to list.

You could say with this story you need to see the bigger 'picture'

scootz - 19/8/12 at 10:57 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MakeEverything
Either way, what were the snipers doing in his house, why were there so many of them, and why the need for a helicopter!?? A classic sign of the police not doing their reconaissance or investigation work properly (if at all), and being too heavy handed with a disproportionate use of resource. IMO of course.

I've often found that any cop with a gun get's lazily referred to as a 'sniper' or a 'marksman' by the press. It was probably just a team of regular firearms officers armed with tasers, pistols and carbines.

As for the police not doing their work properly... they got their man, recovered illegal weapons and no-one was hurt. Sounds like a pretty successful operation to me!

wilkingj - 19/8/12 at 11:00 AM

Agreed.... What you dont know is, What other weapons he had. Maybe his other unlicenced weapons were, perhaps an AK47 and 1000 rounds of ammo?? Pistols?? Who knows?? Also youu dont know what his history is, or who his friends are, or who he associated with...
There is a lot of background that will never be revealed.

Its always the same with anything like this. The press focus on one thing, and often dont even get that correct.
If the guy was able to construct a fully working cannon, it is logical to assume that he has reasonable mechanical skills and the tools to make it.

For example:
He could have been re-activating deactivated weapons for the local drug dealers etc...
OR
He could have just been an enthusiastic tinkerer, and completely harmless.

I suspect there is a LOT more to this story than is actually being reported.
We will probably never know the whole story, and what the papers write is certainly never ever the full story.

After all the Papers are in the business of selling their papers, not in having a duty to accurately report what the find out.
AKA.... Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Just my 2d's worth.

mark chandler - 19/8/12 at 11:19 AM

Just because you are old does not make you immune from the law !

If the title was 21 year caught with illegal firearms, explosives and a homemade cannon what would have been the reaction?

Disabled, so what difference does this make..... non whatsoever.

Strontium Dog - 19/8/12 at 11:49 AM

Ridiculous and way too harsh. The guy makes wheelchairs for injured animals and is a tinkerer just like most of us. I have been around when spud cannons have been knocked up and a few potatoes launched but that hardly makes me or the other guys criminals......oh wait, this is Britain so it probably does!

And as to keeping guns from criminals, what a load of bollocks! Outlawing guns means that only outlaws will have them. It is perfectly legal for me to make 100grams of any explosives as long as it is not radioactive (your not allowed to store it though), just think what could be done with 100g of nitroglycerin!

And before plod comes knocking on my door, my Webley Axor is regularly chrono'd and legal and fitted with a trigger lock. My crossbows are legal and I only have target bolts and no I don't own or have ANY explosives or cannons in my home. Just in case you swat boys were getting all excited!

bobinspain - 19/8/12 at 12:27 PM

Rumour has it that the 'Cannon Man' is being recruited for the next series of 'The Apprentice,' just so we can hear Lord Sugar say, "Cannon man. You're fired!" (boom boom?). Naw, a bit much eh?

It's amazing what goes on in 'Peter Kaye land' these days.
Up until he came along, Bolton was famous only as the subject of a failed palindrome in Monty Python's 'Dead Parrot' sketch.---"It's not a palindrome. A palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob. It don't work."

liam.mccaffrey - 19/8/12 at 12:29 PM

How can you say that when you don't know what unlicensed firearms he has!?

It would be harsh if he had an air rifle that was just over the energy limit but what if he had a stack of M1's or a high powered hunting rifle and no reason to need one.

quote:
Originally posted by Strontium Dog
Ridiculous and way too harsh. The guy makes wheelchairs for injured animals and is a tinkerer just like most of us. I have been around when spud cannons have been knocked up and a few potatoes launched but that hardly makes me or the other guys criminals......oh wait, this is Britain so it probably does!

Strontium Dog - 19/8/12 at 01:25 PM

quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
How can you say that when you don't know what unlicensed firearms he has!?

It would be harsh if he had an air rifle that was just over the energy limit but what if he had a stack of M1's or a high powered hunting rifle and no reason to need one.

quote:
Originally posted by Strontium Dog
Ridiculous and way too harsh. The guy makes wheelchairs for injured animals and is a tinkerer just like most of us. I have been around when spud cannons have been knocked up and a few potatoes launched but that hardly makes me or the other guys criminals......oh wait, this is Britain so it probably does!

Personally I think if he had a stack of M1's the press might just have mentioned it! It is mentioned that he collected historic relics etc. but no mention of any serious fire power...Except for the cannon which was built to fire blanks at the beginning of organised reenactments.

Oh and it's easy to say what I did, I have experience of the police and the justice system and I see both for what they are!

And there's this of course "Despite recommendations from the probation service to give Mr Bennett a community sentence, Judge Lindsey Kushner jailed him for five years"

They would only have recommended a community sentence if they felt the offense was relatively minor!

[Edited on 19/8/12 by Strontium Dog]

liam.mccaffrey - 19/8/12 at 01:41 PM

good point well put, to be fair

Strontium Dog - 19/8/12 at 01:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
good point well put, to be fair

Thanks Liam, and to be fair I only know what I've read about this. It just seems so awful to have sentenced this guy to what may well have proofed to be the rest of his life behind bars for being a lax old duffer that didn't do the paperwork he should have done!

scootz - 19/8/12 at 02:59 PM

Slightly more sensible article here

No mention of snipers, helicopters and terminator-type cyborgs!

Peteff - 19/8/12 at 10:30 PM

He could have been another Derrick Bird or Colin Cheetham in the making though. I know people who have firearms certificates and if I was issuing them they would never have got one. One of them actually had a Dirty Harry type Magnum before handguns were outlawed and he applied for planning permission to build an underground range in his back garden.

gazza285 - 20/8/12 at 12:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
Slightly more sensible article here

No mention of snipers, helicopters and terminator-type cyborgs!

It does mention the sawn off and the hand guns though...

02GF74 - 20/8/12 at 06:03 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
He could have been another Derrick Bird or Colin Cheetham in the making though.

or Michael Ryan or Thomas Hamilton ... but he wasn't so he should not be tried for a crime he did not commit.

anyways, he probably got it since he has been around firearms a long time so should have known better. To me still seems v.harsh compared to what gets dished out for crimes that leave preople dead or seriously injured.