A DANGEROUS man who had a ‘fascination with murder’ and stockpiled guns and knives at his Dudley home has been put behind his bars.
Police discovered a weapons factory when they swooped on Frankie Burton’s home on Roberts Green Road, Upper Gornal on the evening of April 20 last year to arrest him over a suspected arson attack.
Inside Burton’s bedroom officers found a suitcase with an arsenal of weapons including homemade guns, an ammunition box containing 17 bullets with a mix of live and blank rounds, eight hunting and flick knives as well as a knuckleduster, baseball bat and stab-proof vest.
A number of tools which could be used to assemble homemade ammunition and convert firearms into deadly weapons were discovered.
Police then checked the loft of Burton’s home and discovered further guns, 10 live bullets and a CS canister spray.
The 31-year-old was arrested and taken into custody.
Following a police investigation, Burton’s fascination with murder was revealed.
On the internet, he had been researching how to carry out ‘headshots’ and took an interest in cases of people convicted for firearms conversion, as well as sentencing guidelines.
He pleaded guilty to a number of offences when he appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court including the possession of firearms, possession of ammunition, and possession of CS Spray as well as pleading guilty to having no licenses to keep guns.
On Friday, April 14 he was jailed for six years and four months.
Det Insp Lisa Jackson, from West Midlands Police’s Force Priority and Vulnerabilities Team, said: “We discovered Burton was stockpiling an arsenal of weapons at his home including homemade guns he was converting as well as hoarding knives.
“Burton had a fascination with murder and viewed videos on reloading ammunition and had documents with a step-by-step guide. He took an interest in murder probes across the country and researched anatomy of headshots as well as looking into convictions related to firearms conversion convictions and sentencing guidelines.
“The judge today rightly described this as a ‘worrying case’ and found that his interest in firearms conversion was for an unknown criminal purpose, rather than a hobby, as had been suggested.
“He was described in court as a ‘troubling individual’ and a risk to the public, so we’re pleased that he’s behind bars today.”
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