Farmer loses weapons appeal

A 72-year-old farmer who built a cannon, then stashed it in his barn, failed to win time off his jail term on appeal yesterday.

Weapons enthusiast, Roy Bennett, of Doctor Fold Lane, Middleton, had only tested the machine once, on a firing range, but had failed to inform police of its existence.

It was only after a neighbour tipped off the authorities that police called on Bennett in March, last year, and asked him if he had anything to add to the firearms licence he already possessed, London’s Criminal Appeal Court heard.

It was then that he showed them the cannon, which he claimed to have built six months earlier, and also a revolver hidden under his mattress.

Two Colt muzzle loading pistols were also under the bed in socks. In a separate wooden box, Bennett had two gas pistols and a sawn-off shotgun.

He admitted a series of firearms offences at Bolton Crown Court in November, last year, and was jailed for the statutory minimum term of five years.

That minimum term can be waived if there are exceptional circumstances.

Defence barrister Paul McDonald told Mr Justice Royce and Mr Justice Nicol today that Bennett’s case fell into this category.

But Mr Justice Royce said it was exactly because Bennett was so used to handling weapons and having a licence that he should have known to inform the authorities of the new additions to his collection.

“This appeal has to be dismissed,” the judge said.