A man who triggered an armed siege in Weymouth has been found not guilty of possessing a firearm without a licence.
Police were called to the address of Martyn Hannaford in Preston Road, Weymouth, following a domestic incident involving a gun.
After a stand-off lasting several hours police seized an air rifle and what they described as a shotgun. Mr Hannaford, 30, did not need a licence for the airgun but appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court charged with possessing the second firearm without a licence.
Prosecutor Daniel Siong limited what he told the jury as some information from the Magistrates Court was ruled as inadmissible.
He said the police were called to a domestic incident between Mr Hannaford and his wife and arrived to find him packing his bags.
Mr Siong said officers found the JGA German garden gun – dated pre-1937 – in a bedroom cupboard. The charge was changed from possessing a shotgun without a licence to possessing a firearm without a licence as the barrel measured short of the legal classification.
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