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Michael Patrick, a 42 year old father-of-four, was sentenced to serve six years in jail for selling an Uzi machine gun to an undercover journalist.

The Sky News reporter had contacted Patrick, a former IT specialist from Leicestershire, as part of an undercover investigation after seeing his online advertisement for an air pistol.  

He was informed that the pistol had already been sold, but was offered a 600-rounds-per-minute Uzi, a firearm popular in the Middle East but banned in the UK. 

A secret meeting was organised in a car park in Chiswick where the £2,000 deal was filmed using hidden cameras. Patrick handed himself in to police when Sky News broadcast the transaction 12 days later.

During sentencing at Leicester Crown Court, Judge Michael Stokes said "The public is rightly concerned about the increased availability of prohibited weapons."

He went on to tell Patrick "This is a weapon that could kill a dozen people in no time at all."

Det Insp Alan Orchard of Leicestershire police said "This is a very serious crime and this gun could easily have ended up in the hands of criminals."

December 17, 2004