A Nottinghamshire man, who kept a ‘treasure trove of weapons’, has been jailed, following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands.
In January 2024, police searched two properties associated with 42-year-old Andrew Campbell: his home address in Nottingham Road, Toton; and a storage locker in Nottingham, that he rented.
Andrew Campbell has been jailed for five years and ten months after being found in possession of fire arms.
In total, more than 110 weapons and firearms were found and seized.
These included eleven air rifles and CO2-powered guns, along with scores of knives, knuckle dusters and an imitation firearm.
Pistols which had been modified to be over the legal limit, further modified air weapons and a sound suppressor were also seized. In total, four items were found to breach firearms legislation.
Items found in the lock-up had been placed in boxes labelled and disguised as mundane household items.
Extreme right-wing literature, patches and weapons featuring emblems were also recovered from his address, along with instructions for the making of guns, machine guns and explosives.
Further examination of his devices also found racist content.
Campbell was also in possession of a number of batons – a weapon he had knowledge and experience of from his time as a police officer.
He previously served with Nottinghamshire Police, and was dismissed from the force for gross misconduct in April 2017.
Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm without a certificate and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.
Today (Thursday 15 May 2025), at Nottingham Crown Court, Campbell, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for a total of five years and ten months.
HHJ Shant KC, presiding, said his ‘hatred of certain categories of people made for disturbing reading’, she also considered the fact that the weapons were not secured and thus accessible to visitors to his home. She noted that ‘he should, and did, know the power of the weapons and that they were plainly illegal’.
Two charges of collecting information likely to be useful in terrorism, under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000, will lie on file.
Detective Inspector Chris Brett, who was Senior Investigating Officer in the case, said: “Our investigation revealed that Andrew Campbell had a lot of built-up anger, and a hateful outlook on life. He also held a fascination with weaponry and its power and capacity to injure.
“When we arrived with a warrant to search his house for firearms, a real treasure trove of potentially lethal weapons was found.
“Clips filmed on his phone of him ‘testing’ guns in his kitchen, and enthusiastic text exchanges with others about the damage they could cause, paired with his knowledge on how to modify them, made him a very dangerous man.
“Campbell knew the legal limits around these weapons, but adapted them anyway, and amassed one of the largest collections I’ve seen in my career. I’m pleased these weapons are all now off the streets, and Campbell is behind bars.”