By Trendsetter Tribune 
KENDAL, UK — A self-styled “armourer” who ran a sophisticated firearms conversion factory alongside a plot to mass-produce crystal meth was sentenced to 22 years and three months in prison on Monday, February 23, 2026. Dudley Brennan, 31, used his motorcycle repair business in the picturesque Lake District as a front for a criminal enterprise that the National Crime Agency (NCA) described as a “real danger to the public.”
The sentencing at Bolton Crown Court follows a high-stakes NCA raid that uncovered an arsenal of lethal weapons and a clandestine drug laboratory hidden within a residential kitchen.
The Firearms Factory: Submachine Guns and Silencers
Brennan’s primary business was not fixing motorcycles, but converting legal “blank-firing” pistols into deadly, viable firearms for organized crime groups (OCGs) across the UK.
- The Operation: Brennan operated out of Fell View Trading Park in Kendal. He specialized in converting Turkish-made Ekol top-venting blank firearms.
- The Arsenal: During a raid on March 7, 2024, officers found at least two submachine guns and several pistols he had successfully converted. They also recovered a Makarov-style semi-automatic pistol mid-conversion, a silencer, and a significant quantity of live ammunition.
- The Network: Evidence showed Brennan had converted at least 17 firearms for OCGs from Cumbria down to Somerset, fueling violent turf wars and criminal feuds.
The “100 Litre” Meth Plot
While the firearms factory was active, Brennan was also planning to become a major supplier of methylamphetamine (crystal meth), a drug that remains relatively rare in the UK compared to North America.
- The Production Goal: Brennan boasted to co-conspirators that he had designed a custom-built laboratory—intended to be housed in a mobile catering trailer—that could produce 100 litres of crystal meth in a 12-hour period.
- The Kitchen Lab: When NCA officers raided Brennan’s home on Sandes Avenue, they found a small-scale production lab in his kitchen where he was refining his “recipe.”
- The Chevrolet Plan: Brennan had even scouted a 1989 Chevrolet GMC Allegro to serve as his mobile lab, a plan that drew eerie comparisons to the television series Breaking Bad.
The Accomplices and Sentences
Brennan did not work alone. He was part of a coordinated OCG led by Liverpool criminal Peter Weston, who received the heaviest sentence of the group.
| Name | Role | Sentence |
| Peter Weston (40) | OCG Coordinator / Drug Trafficker | 26 years, 9 months |
| Dudley Brennan (31) | The Armourer / Meth Cook | 22 years, 3 months |
| Ryan Pilling (29) | Firearms Delivery / Logistics | 13 years, 7 months |
| Joshua Ee (27) | Weapon Handler / International Liaison | 13 years, 6 months |
| Daniel Fitzgerald (32) | Sourced Blank Firearms | 8 years |
A “Cordon of Safety”
The raid in Kendal was so high-risk that the NCA required support from Cumbria Police, Cheshire Police, and a Ministry of Defence (MoD) bomb disposal team. Authorities were concerned that Brennan’s volatile chemical experiments or his stockpile of converted submachine guns could lead to a catastrophic event in the quiet market town.
“Brennan and the group were only interested in making money and didn’t care at all about the harm these firearms could do in our communities. They were a real danger to the public.” — Cat McHugh, NCA Branch Commander