Today’s hearing began with the prosecutor for the case, Jonathon Dee, asking to amend the indictment that had been put forward by the Crown. It was heard in court that the defendant, Ms Watts, had downloaded the specifications for a particular firearm, that she had access to a 3D printer and had sourced other components, and so the weapon found could be made fireable if done correctly.
Mr Dee explained that this behaviour was not a one-off and that Ms Watts “has a history of making illegal weapons”. The defendant was late arriving to the proceedings and was attending remotely from HMP Peterborough.
Stuart Lody, defending Ms Watts, stated: “I had expected her to be produced in person today.” He went on to describe the case as “complicated”.
After Ms Watts appeared on the video conference call, wearing an orange dress with small black polka dots, she explained that her delay to proceedings was due to “a medical emergency”. His Honour, Judge Hirst, the Honorary Recorder of Lincoln stated: “There have been some developments in the case.
“The prosecution accepted that the gun in the state that it was in was not a prohibited firearm. The prosecution is asking to amend the indictment to attempt to manufacture a prohibited weapon.”
He referred to the components that the prosecution say had been
purchased, and that they claim these could have turned what was found
into “a viable weapon”. Judge Hirst added: “The evidence has not yet
been submitted by the prosecution, so I have made an order that the
evidence is served a week today on the 20th of February...<<<Read More>>>...
