A money launderer who directed a gang which supplied converted guns to London criminals has been jailed for 16 years and six months – with a warehouse in East Hampshire being at the centre of the operation.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard Paul Lynam was the supervisor in a gang that converted hundreds of blank firing guns into live weapons over several months in 2023.

His gang fuelled gun-related crime in London and the UK’s major cities with units in Berkshire, Portsmouth and Mays Yard, Horndean being turned into “gun factories”.

Police discovered “hundreds of rounds of ammunition” in varying stages of conversion after the latter was raided as part of an investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) in August 2023.

Drills, grinders, disc cutters, hydraulic presses for bullets and firearms conversion plans, including some for sub-machine guns, were all discovered.

The unit was rented by a gang member from Portsmouth, previously jailed along with four other counterparts for their part in the operation.

But linking them all together was Lynam, with the 45-year-old of Hannah Gardens, Waterlooville pulling the strings – all while being on release for a 12-year sentence for supplying cocaine.

The court heard that Lynam – who went by the WhatsApp handles ‘Mr Nodody’ and ‘Paul Potts’ – was devoid of remorse, bringing his own son into the operation and telling police “I love guns” during an interview.

Asked how we felt about his role in some of the UK’s most heinous acts he simply replied: “That’s the way of the world” with pictures being uncovered of gun-themed birthday cakes and the defendant driving a Lamborghini.

Judge Newton-Price KC labelled Lynam’s attitude “arrogant, dangerous and irresponsible” in accepting the prosecution’s case that Lynam was highly culpable in the criminal organisation.

Full story in next week’s Petersfield Post.