A 25-year-old boasted "we are now officially gangsters" after smuggling an "evil cargo" of automatic rifles and sub-machine guns "capable of unleashing carnage on a terrifying scale", a court heard.

Harry Shilling, 25, Michael Defraine, 30, John Smale, 58, and Jennifer Arthy, 42, stand accused of smuggling 31 automatic rifles and machine pistols on a boat into the UK at the Old Bailey.

The haul of 22 VZ58s, dubbed the "Czech AK47", nine Skorpions and a "large amount" of ammunition were allegedly shipped in on a boat named the Albernina to Cuxton Marina, Kent, on August 11 last year from Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.

Three people - Shilling's "loyal lieutenant" Richard Rye, 24, Arthy's partner-of-eight-years David Payne, 43, and Christopher Owen, 30 - have already pleaded guilty to conspiring to import firearms.

"The Skorpion sub-machine guns were developed for use by Czech special forces. They are compact, easy to conceal and boast a truly devastating capability due to their ability to fire fully automatically" - Duncan Atkinson, prosecuting

Shilling, Defraine, Smale, and Arthy, who lived with Payne on a houseboat called the Ali Kat in Cuxton Marina, are also charged of conspiracy to endanger life, a charge which Payne and Rye have also admitted.

Duncan Atkinson, prosecuting, said: "This case is concerned with an illegal importation into the UK by these defendants and others, using a boat that had been acquired and prepared for the purpose.

"The items that they imported were 22 assault rifles and nice sub-machine guns - deadly weapons that would find willing purchasers on the UK drugs market and amongst criminal gangs who lend or hire out these weapons, each of which was fully functional.

"The assault rifles, which were Czech and closely resemble AK47s, were designed for use by the military but had been deactivated, rendering them harmless. However, they had been reactivated and made available for purchase in the Czech or Slovak republics.

"Despite the shockingly low prices for which they were sold in Eastern Europe, they would have a value of £2-4,000 to the right buyer in this country.

"The Skorpion sub-machine guns were developed for use by Czech special forces. They are compact, easy to conceal and boast a truly devastating capability due to their ability to fire fully automatically - that is, to continue to fire for as long as the trigger is depressed. Like the rifles they had been converted so that they could fire again.

"They are much sought after by criminals both as status symbols and as serious offensive weapons, and could fetch £3,500 or more each in this country.

"The prosecution's case is that the importation was conceived of, planned and paid for by Shilling.

"The prosecution's case is that the defendants intended these guns to be used, and to be used with ammunition for the purpose for which they were designed - as lethal weapons capable of unleashing carnage on a terrifying scale" - Duncan Atkinson, prosecuting

"He used his associate Defraine as his man on the continent, arranging the mechanics of the transportation of the weapons, and an associate called Richard Rye as a go-between with those who would do important leg work necessary for actually bringing the firearms into this country.

"The weapons were brought into the country from the continent aboard a boat called the Albernina, which was skippered by a man called David Payne, who is Jennifer Arthy's partner, and who enlisted the assistance of Arthy, the defendant Smale and another man called Christopher Owen to acquire and prepare the vessel, and to unload its evil cargo.

"Their activities in doing so, unbeknownst to them, were the subject of surveillance by officers of the National Crime Agency (NCA).

"Payne had been in regular contact with Harry Shilling and his loyal lieutenant Richard Rye.

"Shilling and Rye had made the funds available to Payne and Arthy with which they then bought the Albernina.

"Shilling, with Michael Defraine, had been involved in regular travel on the continent in the weeks leading up to the importation.

"Their contact with each other and with Payne are revealed by an analysis of their telephones and, again, by NCA surveillance. Their travels are revealed by border security records and CCTV footage.

"Telephone records, and especially text conversations between Defraine and Shilling show that Defraine had travelled to the continent to facilitate the importation aboard the Albernina from Boulogne to Kent."

Shilling, Defraine and Rye went to Homebase and other DIY stores on August 11 to acquire bags and tools necessary to bury the weapons in an attempt to disguise them from police, the court heard.

Mr Atkinson said: "An analysis of what they bought shows that they were seeking to bury the guns in such a way that they would be protected not only from moisture but from the detection of the authorities.

"Proper heavy and armed to the teeth, no-one wants beef fam" - email allegedly sent by Defraine

"The prosecution's case is not just that they were going to import the guns but to store them until they could provide them to others - that is that the defendants conspired, with others unknown, to possess the firearms with intent to enable others to endanger life.

"The prosecution contends that these guns were more than trophies - they were working weapons and they came with a large amount of working ammunition.

"In other words, the prosecution's case is that the defendants intended these guns to be used, and to be used with ammunition for the purpose for which they were designed - as lethal weapons capable of unleashing carnage on a terrifying scale - and they clearly intended to profit from doing so."

Shilling and Defraine used Blackberry phones using PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption meaning they were less secretive with their communications but the NCA were able to seize these phones and crack the code, the court heard.

The Albernina "loaded with firearms" sailed from France to the river Medway on August 10, the court heard.

Shilling and Defraine then began to communicate using PGP, the court heard.

Shilling allegedly said, "We now officially gangsters", to which Defraine apparently replied, "f****g nice one".

Later that evening Shilling is said to have emailed "We a firm ant [sic] we" before Defraine alleged replied "Proper heavy and armed to the teeth, no-one wants beef fam".

The prosecution alleges that Shilling then went on to arrange the supply of some of the guns and ammunition with a person only identified on the phone as "B".

Mr Atkinson said: "Shilling intended to supply some of these weapons, and their ammunition, to another or others - thereby putting them into the control of those others and out of the control of these defendants - and thus for those others to use offensively to maim and kill."

Shilling, of Swanley, Kent, Defraine, of Bexleyheath, south east London, Smale, of Rochester, Kent, and Arthy, of Cuxton, all deny one count of conspiring to import firearms and another count of possessing firearms with intent to endanger life.

Payne, Owen of Rochester, Kent, and Rye of Swanley, entered their pleas at an earlier hearing.