Rogue@RogueUnfiltered
A transgender police community support officer has been jailed for eight years and six months after attempting to manufacture a prohibited firearm using a 3D printer.
Zoe Watts, 39, of St Helen’s Avenue in Lincoln, was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court after being found guilty in June. They denied attempting to make a weapon, claiming they was creating a “fidget” toy gun as a Christmas present, but the jury rejected their defence.
During a raid on 11 December, officers from Lincolnshire Police found knives, a crossbow and parts for a semi-automatic short-range rifle, along with a 3D printer hidden in a cupboard.
Prosecutors said the firearm design was capable of firing 33 rounds in 10 to 15 seconds and could have caused mass casualties if properly assembled. Although experts were unable to make the seized parts function, the court heard it would have been a lethal prohibited weapon if completed correctly.
Two days before the search, Watts had looked online for information about deaths linked to 3D-printed guns.
Judge Simon Hirst described Watts as polite but said they had an “obsession with weapons” and a troubling search history. He noted there was planning involved, though no evidence the weapon would have been sold.
Watts, who was previously jailed in 2021 for weapons and explosives offences, was also made subject to a deprivation order and a five-year serious crime prevention order.
Credit: predator awareness.
