THESE weapons formed part of an illegal cache two men tried to smuggle into the country, which included a present for one of their sons.
Frederick Ayres was one of the duo who stepped off a plane at Doncaster’s Robin Hood Airport with a variety of weapons - including flick knives, an extandable baton and a stun gun - hidden in their cases.
A judge at Doncaster Crown Court expressed her disbelief that Ayres would want to give his six-year-old son a knife as a present, before jaling the defendant and his accomplice Jonathon Sutton-Kirkby for a total of five years.
Officers from the UK Border Agency stopped Ayres and Sutton-Kirkby, as they attempted to pass through customs at the Finningley airport on October 2 last year, having landed on a flight from Bourgas, Bulgaria.
Searches revealed a pepper spray canister, two flick knives, a knuckle duster, a swordstick and an extendable baton in Ayres’ bag, the court was told. Sutton-Kirkby’s bag contained an electronic stun gun, a pepper spray, an extendable baton and a knuckle duster.
The pepper sprays and the electronic stun gun are classified as prohibited weapons defined by the Firearms Act. The others are all classed as offensive weapons.
Both men pleaded guilty at a hearing at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court to possessing an offensive weapon and to possessing a firearm.
Speaking after the case Malcolm Bragg, assistant director at the UK Border Agency, said: “Knives and firearms are deadly weapons, which destroy lives and are a blight on the communities in which we live.
“The UK Border Agency has robust controls in place at all our borders to stop these items entering the country.
“This case should serve as a warning to those seeking to smuggle dangerous weapons into the UK. We will catch you and you will be prosecuted.”
Ayres, 28, of Barnsley, and Sutton-Kirkby, 23, of Wakefield, both received 30 months.