The feisty baronet, a pump-action shotgun and a plague of foxes: Officers seize weapons in swoop on stately home

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The feisty baronet, a pump-action shotgun and a plague of foxes: Officers seize weapons in swoop on stately home

May 25th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

It has been suggested officers were tipped off by an acquaintance of the baronet who saw him brandishing a gun at a dinner party
The baronet was fined £2,000 and is now likely to lose right to keep his guns

By
Luke Salkeld

PUBLISHED:

17:58 EST, 25 May 2012

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UPDATED:

17:58 EST, 25 May 2012

Armed to the teeth: Sir Benjamin with machine-gun and dogs

Proudly posing with a machine-gun, Sir Benjamin Slade is clearly a man fascinated by firepower.

But it is an attraction which landed the 66-year-old baronet in court this week after police staged a dramatic raid on his stately home.

Acting on a tip-off, officers swarmed into the 13th-century property – set in a 2,000-acre country estate – and found a shotgun in a bedroom, which Slade said he used to shoot at foxes from his window.

Under gun laws, the firearm should have been kept in a locked cabinet.

They also discovered an unlicensed pump-action shotgun in his kitchen.

The baronet was fined £2,000 – and is now likely to lose the right to keep any of his guns.

A court heard that Slade, whose ancestors fought in the Crimean War and had links to Horatio Nelson, had allowed his home near Bridgwater, Somerset, to be used for a wedding on the day the police arrived.

With a surveillance helicopter in the air and several roadblocks in place, 18 armed officers and a forensics specialist stormed the main house after the wedding party had left for church. It has been suggested officers were tipped off by an acquaintance of the baronet who saw him brandishing a gun at a dinner party.

During the search the pump-action gun was found behind a cardboard box in the corner of the kitchen.

Michael Travers, prosecuting, told Taunton magistrates: ‘The defendant had no idea when it came into the country and unfortunately for him it was not listed on his firearm or shotgun certificates.’

Mr Travers said Slade then started to move away from the area of the search. He was followed by officers, who found another shotgun in the upstairs bedroom of an outbuilding.

In an interview, Slade refused to comment but gave police a prepared statement in which he said the gun had been taken out in the morning to deal with a fox which was eating his geese.

With regard to the pump-action weapon, he said he had never used it with any more than three shots in and he claimed he had spoken to his police firearms officer about it and thought it was on his certificate.

Peter Glensor, defending, said: ‘For more than half a century he has held and used shotguns and firearms legitimately and without any problems. He is unlikely to get his guns back.

Seized: Sir Benjamin outside his home - it has been suggested officers were tipped off by an acquaintance of the baronet who saw him brandishing a gun at a dinner party

Seized: Sir Benjamin outside his home – it has been suggested officers were tipped off by an acquaintance of the baronet who saw him brandishing a gun at a dinner party

‘That is a significant punishment for a man who spends much of his free time shooting. It is a significant punishment to a man in his position to find himself in court. It is humiliating.’

Mr Glensor was highly critical of Avon and Somerset police, claiming they had been heavy handed.

He added: ‘Roadblocks were set up. A helicopter hovered overhead. Yet, a village bobby on his bicycle could have done just as good a job.’

Slade – a former stockbroker – admitted one charge of possessing a firearm without a certificate and another of breaching a shotgun certificate by leaving a weapon unsecured.

Yesterday he said he blamed the raid on a ‘malicious allegation’ against him, adding: ‘I think the police were rather heavy handed. They ransacked the bar and took away antique pistols and guns which were purely decorative.’