Police raided 'obsessed hobbyist' when he was just 15 minutes away from completing 3D printing of parts needed to make a gun

By ANDY DOLAN, GENERAL REPORTER Published: 16:18, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 16:20, 10 August 2026 A grandfather who was just 15 minutes away from completing the 3D printing of parts to make a useable gun when police raided his home was today sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars. David Boylett was also caught in possession of ammunition which would have worked with the weapon when it was assembled, and an overpowered air rifle. The court heard the ‘obsessed hobbyist’ was a victim of the Shropshire maternity scandal, having lost his son Joshua who ‘could have been better looked after’. But sentencing the 62-year-old today, Judge David Lock KC said he could not see a link between that tragedy and Boylett’s ‘relationship or obsession with guns’. The judge said Boylett had very ‘nearly succeeded in manufacturing a gun’. The judge said 3D printers combined with information readily available online meant ‘that the possibility of an individual manufacturing something which could then be used in crime, for a mass shooting or any other illegal purpose becomes astonishingly easy.’ He added: ‘The only way I can respond to that is by making sure sentences are passed which reflect the gravity of the business of making your own guns, which is what you did.’ The court heard officers from the National Crime Agency who swooped on Boylett’s home in Telford, Shropshire, in July 2021 found the firearm parts on a coffee table, as well as other gun parts and paraphernalia ‘scattered around’ the property, including steel ball bearings, two books on firearms and ammunition in a Quality Street tin in his shed. David Boylett was minutes away from completing the 3D printing of all of the parts of a viable firearm An image of a 3D printed gun part released by the National Crime Agency following the sentencing Investigators found ammunition such as this at Boylett's home in Telford, Shropshire The gun parts merely needed sections of excess polymer drilled out before they could be assembled into a working firearm, the court heard. Shrewsbury Crown Court heard Boylett also kept shotgun cartridges in a coffee jar, while 3D printing files were recovered from his computer, and a zip file relating to a handgun in a folder labelled ‘naughty stuff’. Prosecutor Kate Jenkin said NCA investigators used the files recovered from Boylett’s home to print their own functional gun, and conducted a successful test fire. She added: ‘Had he spent 15 minutes removing excess polymer from the (gun) parts then the gun would have been manufactured, and in a sense, complete.’ Ms Jenkin said other files recovered included instructions on how to make a machine gun, ammunition and a self-loading pistol from sheet metal. Investigators also found instructions on how to manufacture an air rifle that ‘looked like a walking stick’. Boylett’s mobile phone also contained a video of his 3D printer producing one of the firearm components of the type recovered from his property, where two 3D printers were discovered. She said the Crown did not suggest Boylett was in the process of setting up a gun manufacturing ‘business’ but added: ‘He was clearly conducting research and he clearly had an interest in constructing guns.’ She said Boylett’s activity showed ‘some degree of sophistication’ and planning, and he had taken steps to avoid detection by installing software on his computer which automatically deleted his search history. One of the two 3D printers found when NCA investigators raided Boylett's home The overpowered air rifle was found lying on an ironing board at Boylett's cluttered house The court heard there was no evidence Boylett was offering guns for sale, but Judge Lock commented: ‘The NCA moved in to stop something that was dangerously close from being completed’. The judge said there remained ‘a complete absence of evidence about what he was going to do with the guns once his manufacturing process was perfected.’ Morgan Pirone, defending, said Boylett was an ‘over-obsessed hobbyist’ who had an ‘unhealthy interest’ in weapons and had been ‘incredibly naïve’. Mr Pirone added: ‘He had had more trauma than any individual ought to have had in their life’, describing how his son Joshua ‘died in his arms’ shortly after birth in 2008. ‘No parent should have to go through that’, the barrister said, adding that the case formed part of Donna Ockenden’s review into maternity care in Shropshire. Boylett's newborn baby, Joshua died shortly after birth, and he was pictured with other bereaved parents on the day the Ockenden review into Shropshire's maternity scandal was published Mr Pirone said the review examined ‘various institutions’ and said it seemed clear that ‘Joshua could have been better looked after’. In 2022 the independent midwife’s report concluded the deaths of 201 babies and nine mothers at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust might have been prevented with better care. Ms Ockenden’s review examined cases involving 1,486 families from 1973 to 2020 and reviewed 1,592 incidents. Boylett was pictured with other bereaved parents, some holding copies of the review on the day of its publication. Boylett admitted attempting to manufacture a prohibited weapon, possession of ammunition without a firearm certificate and possession of a firearm without a certificate. The court heard he had 20 previous convictions for 51 offences, the last of which in 2014. But the judge said their ‘nature and age’ was not a substantial aggravating feature. The judge gave Boylett a ten per cent reduction in his sentence in recognition of his late guilty plea and acknowledged that he had overcome addictions ‘and a tragic incident involving your son who died in childbirth, and that must have left you with serious and lasting pain.’ He ordered the seized gun paraphernalia and files to be destroyed. NCA Senior Investigating Officer Niall Conner said: “Boylett was in the process of creating deadly weapons that could have done untold harm to individuals in our communities. “The depth of his research into 3D printed firearms demonstrates his obsession and intent with the tools in his possession. “Firearms crime in the UK is among the lowest in the world and we work tirelessly with partners to tackle the threat posed by illegal firearms and to protect the public.’