Secret arsenal of the bus driver who harboured arms obsession

A HOME-MADE collection of bombs, guns and knives, this is the arsenal found hidden at the Yorkshire home of a bus driver who was a member of the British National Party.

Locked away in an untidy attic bedroom, the cache, assembled over 10 years by former soldier Terry Gavan, was so large it took police and counter-terrorism experts six days to complete a forensic survey of the house.

Gavan was jailed for 11 years yesterday after pleading guilty to charges relating to 54 improvised explosive devices, including nail bombs and a booby-trapped cigarette packet, as well as 12 firearms.

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But police later revealed the cache they uncovered was even larger, featuring about 40 knives, a crossbow and arrows, and more than 30 firearms, including pistols, revolvers and a re-activated British Mark I rifle.

Gavan was apparently in the process of making a rocket launcher and the search found air pellets had been fired into one of the walls of the house.

Police also discovered books and magazines about guns and the military and a computer file of The Anarchist's Cookbook, described in court as a "how to" manual about anarchism.

Although Gavan was a member of the BNP for about a year, counter-terrorism experts could find no clear ideological purpose to his campaign and were surprised by the sheer volume of weapons that were hidden in the bedroom.

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The arsenal could have been deadly in the wrong hands and, although there was no evidence Gavan had injured anyone, police found clues to suggest he was planning an attack.

While searching the house, officers found an address in Batley had been written down. It turned out to be that of a woman who had appeared standing outside her home in a 2007 documentary about the July 7 bombings in London.

Prosecutor Stuart Baker told the Old Bailey it was a neighbouring home that Gavan had "obviously made a mistake about" as the documentary concerned what had been happening to the woman's neighbours.

Gavan told police he "could not remember" why he had made a note of the address.

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He also said he believed Britain should not be in the European Union and that "illegal immigrants should not be allowed to stay".

His interest in firearms and explosives began in childhood. He grew up in Batley, attended local schools and served briefly in the RAF as a teenager.

He joined the Army in 1988 and served in the Royal Dragoon Guards for five years, but he was disciplined nine times and spent several months in military detention.

He was discharged in November 1993 after being jailed for six months at Bradford Crown Court for producing a firearm in a "threatening manner" during an argument in a pub in Dewsbury. Latterly, he had been living with his mother, working as a bus driver and running his own window cleaning business.

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The head of the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, Det Chief Supt David Buxton, said Gavan was "extremely dangerous and unpredictable".

"The sheer volume of homemade firearms and grenades found in his bedroom exposed his obsession with weapons and explosives," Mr Buxton added, "however, he was not simply a harmless enthusiast.

"Gavan used his extensive knowledge to manufacture and accumulate devices capable of causing significant injury or harm. As such, he posed a very clear risk to public safety.

"Our investigation revealed Gavan's violent potential and, while he had no single cause or agenda, he represented no less of a threat to our communities."