UK man first in Britain to be convicted of using 3D printer to make a gun, after claiming it was for a university project

The 26-year-old man, whose gun was found during a drugs raid in October 2017, claimed he printed the firearm for a ‘dystopian’ university film project

But police found he had searched the internet to watch videos on how to make a weapon that could fire live ammunition

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The gun manufactured with a 3D printer by Tendai Muswere. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 11:00pm, 19 Jun 2019Updated: 12:02am, 20 Jun 2019

A man has become the first person in Britain to be convicted of using a 3D printer to make a firearm capable of firing a lethal shot, police said on Wednesday.

Components for the weapon were discovered during a drugs raid on a home in central London in October 2017.

Tendai Muswere, 26, who pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday to manufacturing a firearm, told detectives he was printing the 3D gun for a university project.

Officers however found he had searched the internet to watch videos on how to make a weapon that could fire live ammunition.

Tendai Muswere, who does not hold a firearms licence, told officers that he was printing the firearm for a university project. Photo: London Metropolitan Police via EPA-EFE

A second raid on Muswere’s home in February last year found further components of a 3D-printed gun.

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