6/2/2023 0 Comments Customs stash mapWhen distinctive Mac-10 submachine guns were used in several shootings in London and Manchester in spring 1997, Hallowes and his team were tasked with catching the supplier. Hallowes explains that his involvement began when he was placed on the UK’s biggest gunrunning investigation, codenamed Abonar. “It’s in the public interest for this to be reinvestigated,” he asserts. After that “hugely frustrating” experience, he is glad to finally be getting his story off his chest now – and argues that today’s police should take notice. The alleged redactions were “outrageous”, says Hallowes, who would have been sacked if he had disclosed the information back then. He makes his claims in a new book, Operation Abonar, which goes on sale this week. The former officer, Michael Hallowes, was a member of the Metropolitan Police’s covert branch SO11 at the time and went on to become a Detective Chief Superintendent. Mac-10 submachine guns uncovered during the investigation (Photo: Clink Street Publishing) Weapons made by this gunsmith are thought to remain in the criminal underworld and have since been used in more killings.The court redactions resulted in a firearms supplier not being charged for reactivating submachine guns that were used in murders, meaning he received a less severe prison sentence.This convict was never prosecuted for perverting the course of justice, nor for procuring weapons as part of his plan, and is now free after his original jail term ended.Another major criminal tried using the same trick to secure a release deal but his ruse was discovered by police.Legal officials redacted all details about the scam from trial documents in 1999, apparently to suppress public knowledge of any failings and avoid political embarrassment, while Haase and Bennett were on the loose and committing more crimes.It caused major embarrassment for the justice system and for Howard, who is now an active member of the House of Lords.īut that, it seems, may have only been half the story.Ī retired senior detective who helped uncover the plot, who has spoken to i, is now claiming that: They were jailed again, this time for 22 and 20 years respectively. The gangsters – John Haase, described as a “ real-life Scarface”, and Paul Bennett, his nephew – were hauled back into court in 2008. Police and a local MP remained suspicious, however, and several years later the ruse was publicly exposed.
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