by Annette Wilson

A Herne Bay weapons collector who posted a revolver home from America, ran foul of firearms legislation when he mistakenly believed the gun was obsolete.

David Browton bought the .22 Smith and Wesson at a boot fair in Florida. He posted it home to avoid any possible problems at the airport ensuring the package was properly labelled with the requisite declaration.

It was intercerpted at Mount Pleasant International post depot in March last year and Mr Browton, 68, of Central Parade, later admitted transfer of a prohibited weapon without authority and appeared at Canterbury Crown Court for sentence.

After hearing that Mr Browton had been a lifelong collector of militaria, Judge Nigel van der Bijl took the unusual step of binding Mr Browton over to come up for judgement if called, saying it was accepted the gun was to be part of Mr Browton’s collection and the firearms legislation allowed for exceptional circumstances.

"It is vital that those who carry or possess firearms for offensive or defensive purpose or any other nefarious purpose are dealt with severely," said Judge van der Bijl adding that the statutory five year minimum sentence was very sensible.

"It is equally vital that those who possess these things for an entirely innocent purpose should not be snared by the minimum sentence legislation."

When officers went to Mr Browton’s home they found deactivated grenades, a mortar bomb which had already been fired, fuses and shells. There was also a small amount of live gunpowder for which he was cautioned. He said he used the gunpowder to reload cartridges for his own use and held shotgun licences.