Pair found guilty of travelling to Sheffield to buy converted firearms

The pair were stopped with three guns which had been converted to fire real ammunition

Sheffield Crown Court
Author: Matt SoanesPublished 25th Nov 2024

Two men have been found guilty of firearms offences after travelling to Sheffield to buy converted firearms.

Joseph Steele, 34, of Brewery Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Shera Virk, 24, of Golf Lane, Leamington Spa, were convicted for three counts of possession of a firearm and one charge of possession of ammunition.

The pair were arrested on March 30 2023, having travelled from Warwickshire to Sheffield to obtain the guns.

They were stopped in Nottinghamshire in a stolen vehicle.

Both Steele and Virk were found guilty of all charges following a three week trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Four people have previously been convicted as part of a South Yorkshire Police investigation into the conversion of blank firing weapons into real firearms.

Arron Ward, 30, of Smelter Wood Crescent, Sheffield, was found guilty of the same offences following a trial in October 2024. At the same trial, Danny Milner, of Gresley Walk, Sheffield, was also found guilty of conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited weapons.

Andrew Loton, 35, of Bramshill Close, Sheffield, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and conspiring to manufacture, sell or transfer ammunition at an earlier hearing.

All will be sentenced at a later date.

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