A FORMER Army sergeant who ran one of Britain's biggest underworld gun factories from his prison cell has been handed a second life sentence.
Paul Alexander, 58, admitted conspiracy to supply firearms with intent to endanger life at Woolwich Crown Court last Wednesday and was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday (June 6).
A former Royal Engineer, he used his military expertise to become one of Britain's most infamous illegal firearms dealers. He ran his multimillion pound operation from his luxury £2.5m listed mansion farmhouse in Plums Lane, in the village of Bardfield Saling.
Alexander was given an indefinite jail sentence in September 2009 for turning antique and imitation weapons into "assassin kits", including black plastic briefcases containing a handgun, magazine, cartridges and silencer and obsolete rifles designed to kill at short range for £1,500 each, that were linked to 28 crimes across the country.
He was first arrested in 2008 after police found his DNA on weapons used by a member of the Croxteth Crew gang during the shooting of 11-year-old schoolboy Rhys Jones in Liverpool.
However, police believe the arms had been used in hundreds of robberies and killings including a murder in Birmingham, four attempted murders, nine shootings and an armed robbery.
Despite his incarceration Alexander was determined to keep his business alive and carried on behind bars at HMP Swaleside in Kent, using illegally acquired mobile phones.
Victor Temple QC, prosecuting, said: "Alexander, together with his co-conspirators and others, agreed to posses antique calibre .44 firearms with the intention to enable others to endanger life.
"In short, the Crown say, the defendants, and Alexander in particular, all knew the firearms would end up in the hands of criminals who would have no hesitation to use the weapons to rob, to maim and to endanger life."
Originally from Bath, Alexander set up the jailhouse operation with the help of fellow inmate Carl Gordon, 27, serving life for murder, and Alexander's wife, Caroline Hunter-Mann-Purdy, 64, who had also served a prison term for money laundering over the gun factory, but was living in Harwich with daughter, Lullahbelle Purdy, 26, who he used to communicate with others involved in the conspiracy.
DI Richard Mills of SCO7, Special Intelligence Section, said: "During the period that Gordon and Alexander met in prison, they effectively became business partners, dealing in weapons and ammunition.
"This was a complex investigation by the Met's Special Intelligence Section, which is committed to targeting criminal networks and bringing a successful prosecution.
"I would like to pay tribute to the detectives who have worked tirelessly to see this case to its successful conclusion."
Security at Swaleside prison was so "lax" that Alexander was able to run his arm dealing racket from his cell, the court heard.
Mr Temple said mobile phones were readily available to convicts, while Alexander was also allowed to keep gun magazines which he used to order 100-year-old weapons and components.
"The Crown remark on the fact that the regime at Swaleside was relaxed to say the least", Mr Temple told the court.
"Remarkably, Alexander still had access to gun magazines and the like – which resulted in his previous convictions for the supply of firearms – and allowed him to pursue his activities."
James Scobie QC, defending Alexander, said the former Army sergeant began the criminal enterprise in order to help with his family's financial difficulties, just months before he was to be conditionally released.
"These items, such as the gun magazines, were in Paul Alexander's cell when he arrived at prison", Mr Scobie added. "Temptation took control and he is right at the bottom, literally the bottom.
"He had an excellent Army record, spending 20 years there, based in the artillery, he was somebody who was an asset to the community."
Of the 11 weapons sold by Alexander's arms network, only four have since been recovered.
The court heard how Alexander's stepdaughter Purdy laundered the profits from the criminal enterprise.
Her mother, Hunter-Mann-Purdy, would then exchange coded letters with Alexander to update the convict on weapon sales.
Six co-conspirators were given prison sentences alongside Alexander, including Hunter-Mann-Purdy who was jailed for seven years.
