Michael Sammon, 49, converted hundreds of blank-firing pistols into deadly weapons before selling them on to criminal gangs.Twelve-year-old schoolgirl Kamilah Peniston would later be killed by one of the guns, when she was accidentally shot at home by her teenaged brother.Sammon bought the pistols openly in Germany before smuggling them into the UK by sea and using the postal service.In a workshop in Manchester, he converted them to fire live ammunition.One of the guns ended up in the hands of Kasha Peniston, 17. In the lounge of the home he shared with his sister Kamilah in Greater Manchester, he accidently shot her in the head with it.
He was jailed for two years for her manslaughter in 2007.Five other men were sentenced in 2006 for their part in the smuggling operation.Kasha Peniston: Sentenced to two years in prison for the manslaughter of his sisterJudge Martin Steiger QC described them as "merchants of death".But Sammon initially escaped detection using fake passports and by changing his appearance.In June 2008 he was traced to a caravan park in Hampshire and arrested. Manchester Crown Court heard he was the "ruthless boss" behind the operation.Half the firearms were recovered but around 100 remain untraced.Sentencing Manchester-born Sammon, Judge Steiger said: "Many have been used in shooting incidents and there have been at least two fatalities."One hundred of the guns are still in circulation, waiting to do their lethal work to innocent victims."Sammon is a man who is both ruthless and manipulative. He undoubtedly was the head of this sinister commercial operation."Sammon was found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life, conspiracy to import firearms, conspiracy to manufacture firearms, conspiracy to possess firearms and possessing false passports.
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