A couple who sold a gun to a gangster in an Aldi car park to fund their lavish lifestyle have been jailed.
Fiona Crooks encouraged boyfriend Vincent Horsfall to trade firearms so she could enjoy a "luxurious lifestyle" and fund "cosmetic dental work", Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Horsfall was caught by police after he bought a Colt firearm from a legitimate collector in Lancashire before selling it onwards to a Manchester-based convicted drug dealer, Liverpool Echo reports.
The buyer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also has previous convictions for offences including kidnapping and inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Martyn Walsh, prosecuting, told the court how Horsfall arranged to sell the 41 caliber Colt Thunderer revolver handgun to the gangster, setting up a meeting in the car park of an Aldi supermarket on April 28, 2021. Crooks drove her boyfriend to the location and had her six-year-old daughter in the car at the time.
Both 30-year-old defendants met the "leading" organised crime group member and the weapon was handed over during this meeting, with the man then leaving and heading back towards Manchester on the M62. But, at around 7.15pm, he was pulled over by armed police.
The man was seen reaching into the passenger footwell of the vehicle before being removed from the car.
A police search then revealed the firearm in the glove compartment - wrapped in kitchen roll and "oiled" - alongside nearly £25,000 of cash in a plastic bag. The gun was found to be in working order and was successfully test fired, with Horsfall's DNA being discovered on it.
The court heard that in August 2021 the couple went on holiday to Tenerife and on their return their car had been secretly bugged. Covert recordings subsequently captured them discussing the potential sale of a firearm to someone who Crooks knew and believed to be a drug dealer.
In September police raided Crooks' home on Wheatfield Close in Netherley, Liverpool, as well as a separate address in Southport.
At the former address, a loaded revolver was discovered in a Berghaus man bag inside a shoe cupboard and beside a child-sized Wellington boot. Bullets were found in each chamber of the gun, which had both Horsfall's and Crooks' DNA on it.
The court was told of the pair's reaction when cops stormed their home, with Crooks heard saying "I'm petrified". Horsfall replied: "It's me that's in trouble, not you.
"F****** hell. You're acting like you're in trouble here."
Crooks added: "They're in the f****** house. We're f***** here."
Simon Gledhill, defending, told the court that Horsfall has a "long-standing interest in collecting antique weapons".
"While there were fantasies about what they might do if they had excess money, the reality is quite different - he knows he should never have gone down this route, but he set off down this route from need rather than greed," Mr Gledhill said.
"He has tried to use his time in prison productively as he can. He has an eye to his release and obtaining legitimate employment so as to not find any reason to appear before these courts in future.
"In short, he has learned from this terrible experience. He is very sorry for having become involved in this situation and essentially involving Ms Crooks in this situation, and for the harm his actions potentially could have caused."
Crooks, who has no previous convictions, made an "error of judgement", defence barrister Paul Becker said.
"There is clearly a significant difference in their roles," Mr Becker said. "The defendant is a comparatively young lady of previous good character. She was in a bad place with her mental health at the time and obviously made a serious error of judgement.
"She has expressed sincere regret and remorse for her very serious offending. She should be given a chance - she is a young lady who has made a serious error of judgement, but everyone is entitled to a second chance."
Horsfall was also sentenced for fraud offences at the hearing after "offering firearms for sale" on Gun Star and a second website called Mil Web in late 2019. He received offers for the weapons and collected money from his victims, but never provided the goods.
Eight such transactions were recorded, but only three complainants cooperated with the police. From them, he took sums of £810, £390 and £360.
Horsfall - who appeared via video link to HMP Liverpool - admitted selling a firearm, possession of a firearm and ammunition and three counts of fraud and was jailed for six years and nine months. Crooks pleaded guilty to intentionally encouraging the commission of an offence and was handed two years.
Sentencing, Judge Garrett Byrne said: "Firearms can be used to maim and kill. This city has recently suffered a spate of shootings, resulting in the deaths of young people and even children.
"The firearm was sold not only to a man with a criminal record, but a man with a leading role in an organised crime group and dealing with the trafficking of class A drugs. You must have known full well there was a high probability that gun you supplied him with would have been used for criminal purposes.
"But you nevertheless turned a blind eye to it. There did come a time when the weapon was removed from the [attic]and placed in a box on a shoe rack, easily accessible to a child."
To Crooks, the judge added: "You did this out of greed, for cash to be able to afford cosmetic dental work among other things. You encouraged him whole heartedly in all his criminality.
"This is not a sentence I can suspend. The offending is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified."
