Walsall man convicted for attempting to acquire Skorpion machine gun

A man has been convicted for attempting to acquire a lethal and prohibited Skorpion sub machine gun and for supplying cocaine.

Waheed Zaman, 42 of Deakin Avenue, Walsall was convicted today (25 April 2023) following a four week trial at Loughborough Nightingale Court of one count of attempting to possess or acquire prohibited ammunition and three counts of supplying a controlled class A drug.

A second defendant, Aweis Bashir, 27, of Parrs Wood Road, Manchester, pleaded guilty at the end of the trial last week Friday (21 April 2023) at the same court to conspiracy to acquire prohibited ammunition, being concerned in the offer to supply class A and B drugs and encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.

Waheed Zaman and Aweis Bashir operated on the EncroChat network, which has since been shut down.

Both defendants initially denied that they were the individuals using the EncroChat phones but working with the National Crime Agency, the CPS proved their identities and proved their offending using a combination of technical data and message content from both their personal devices and the Encrochat phones.

Hannah Sidaway of the CPS said: “These two defendants colluded to obtain and supply controlled drugs thereby blighting our communities. The Skorpion sub machine gun could have been used to cause devastating loss of life. Such weapons should never be on our streets, and I hope these convictions send a clear message that such criminal behaviour will not be tolerated. We are committed to working collaboratively with law enforcement to expose and prosecute organised criminals to the full extent of the law.”
 
The defendants will be sentenced at a later date.