‘Doomsday prepper’ jailed after weapons and survival guides found in home
A man ‘obsessed with guns’ has been jailed after claiming he was learning how to manufacture ammunition in case the UK was invaded.
Stefan Fenyes, 47, told National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators he had a keen interest in survivalism and doomsday prepping for civil unrest.
He had made 227 separate online orders for items that could be used to manufacture live ammunition.
This includes tools to reload fired rounds, specially-made brushes to clean gun barrels and boxes for storing ammunition.
Fenyes, a Slovkian national, was arrested at his workplace in March last year.
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His home was searched and NCA officers recovered a viable Czech-manufactured pistol complete with a loaded magazine and rounds of live ammunition.
Other items seized there included gun barrels and component parts, as well as the tools Fenyes had ordered online to manufacture live ammunition.
He also had military survival guidebooks and a series of items relating to hunting and archery, such as crossbows and knives.
Fenyes claimed in an interview to have sent the pistol to himself by mistake during a 2024 trip to Slovakia when, unbeknownst to him, it was in a fishing tackle box he posted to his UK address.
He saidt he was in the process of learning how to manufacture ammunition as it would be useful knowledge if the UK was invaded by a foreign state, or in a scenario of large-scale civil unrest.
Rick Mackenzie, NCA senior investigating officer, said: ‘Stefan Fenyes is clearly obsessed with guns and was intent on assembling an arsenal of weapons.
‘Our investigation has crucially removed a lethal firearm from criminal circulation, as well as live ammunition.
‘While gun crime in the UK is among the lowest in the world, suppressing the availability of illegal firearms to criminals is a priority for the NCA.’
Fenyes admitted in April charges of possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of prohibited ammunition without the requisite certificates.
Fenyes, of Warwick, Warwickshire, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday for possessing a gun and manufacturing live ammunition.
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