A 23-year-old Swanley crime boss who boasted "we are now officially gangsters" has been told he could be facing a life sentence after smuggling more than £100,000 worth of guns into the UK – bought from the same source as the weapons used in the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Harry Shilling was said to be the "mastermind" of the plot to bring the stash including 22 Czech VZ-58 assault rifles, similar in type to the AK-47, and nine Skorpion machine pistols, along with 58 magazines and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition into Rochester, from Boulogne in France.
He and Bexleyheath man Michael Defraine, 30, were found guilty of gun smuggling and possessing firearms with intent to endanger life earlier today (April 21), following a trial held at the Old Bailey amid almost unprecedented security.
(Left-right): Harry Shilling, Richard Rye, Michael Defraine
He will be sentenced along with the rest of the gang, Skipper David Payne, 43, Richard Rye, 24 and from Swanley, and Christopher Owen, 30, who had already pleaded guilty.
Payne's "best friend" John Smale, 58, and partner Jennifer Arthy, 42, were cleared of the charges they faced, following the six-week trial.
Judge Michael Topolski QC said he will give "serious consideration" for a life sentence for Shilling. The gang will be sentenced at a later date.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) hailed it as the biggest seizure of these deadly guns on British soil.
Although the gang had no connection with terrorism, the source and route of the weapons was the same as those used in the Charlie Hebdo shootings, when 11 people were killed in Paris, just over six months before - according to the NCA.
The Albernina arrived with the "evil" cargo near Cuxton Marina, outside Rochester in Kent, on August 10 last year.
But the NCA had the plotters under surveillance and swooped to seize the deadly cache before it could be buried with tools bought in Orpington Homebase, in Sevenoaks Way, and then passed into the wrong hands.
A topless John Smale was arrested in Cuxton Marina
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said Shilling masterminded the plan and paid for the guns, with help from his man on the continent, Defraine, and "loyal lieutenant" and "go-between" Rye.
Skipper Payne brought the guns into the country on board the Albernina.
On arriving back in the UK, Shilling emailed: "We now officially gangsters," and Defraine replied "F***ing nice one".
Shilling emailed back: "Hahahaha defo that's sick. Duck and run for cover bitches. We are a firm ant we".
Defraine responded: "Proper heavy and armed to the teeth no one wants beef fam".
Chris Owen (left) and David Payne (right) will also be sentenced
Shilling also exchanged messages with a mystery contact "B" to arrange the onward supply of the guns.
On August 11, Shilling, Defraine and Rye were arrested after visiting Homebase to buy bags and tools to bury the guns until they were needed.
Defraine and Shilling were detained by armed NCA officers outside the store, where they had just purchased spades and pick-axes to bury the weapons.
Rye tried to flee but was arrested in a nearby McDonalds restaurant.
In his defence, Shilling said his long-time friend Rye was the real "puppet master" and he only worked for him collecting and dealing in cannabis.
Shilling gave his occupation as a breeder of dogs and game birds. He also had an Emu as a family pet - which had been "arrested" in the past.
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He denied that an encrypted BlackBerry phone with the incriminating messages on it was his. Prosecutors claimed it was one of seven Shilling owned.
The prosecution suggested that because Shilling was the boss, the name "Kaiser" on the mobile was a reference to the film character Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects.
Like the film character, they said, Shilling acted the fool but was really the mastermind.
But Shilling said Kaiser was in fact the name of Rye's dog, backing up his claim that the phone was not his.
He said he went to Romania to buy a Caucasian Shepherd puppy called "Misty" and the trip had nothing to do with setting up a guns deal.
In turn, Defraine, nicknamed Daffy, denied being Shilling's man on the continent.
He told jurors he worked for Rye buying and selling cars and had planned to set up a new motor dealership in Belgium.
On his arrest in the car park of Homebase with the so-called "burial kit", his lawyer David Taylor said he had been "left holding the baby" as Shilling had a "panic attack" and Rye had a "Mac attack" as he darted off to McDonald's.
Shilling; Defraine; Smale, from Rochester; and Arthy, who lived with Payne on a houseboat in Cuxton, denied the charges.
Rye, Payne and Owen had pleaded guilty to their part in the smuggling conspiracy. Payne and Rye also admitted conspiracy to supply firearms that would be used by others to endanger life.
Following the convictions, Rob Lewin, NCA head of specialist operations, said: "We cannot say for certain what the organised crime group would have done with the weapons had they not been stopped.
"But the evidence pointed to them not being afraid to use guns themselves to expand their influence.
"They wanted to move up in the criminal world from regional to international gangsters."
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