Violence-obsessed teenage killer bought gun online using forged licence

Nicholas Prosper had researched how to fake a gun licence and bought a gun and ammunition from a dealer he arranged to meet in a car park.

Nicholas Prosper was able to buy a gun using a fake licence that he had made himself.

The 18-year-old responded to an advert online and bought the shotgun and 100 cartridges from a legitimate firearms dealer for £650 the day before he murdered his mother and two siblings.

He had previously tried and failed to buy a gun a short time before the killings, having carefully researched online how to make a fake gun licence.

A forensics officer with a shotgun on ground next to a fence — A forensics officer with the shotgun in a black holdall (Bedfordshire Police/PA)

He first became a member of GunTrader UK in April 2024, and started researching how to make a fake firearms licence two months later.

In August that year, he tried and failed to buy a gun on the site, but on August 30 was able to buy a shotgun and cartridges on a site called Gunstar.

Prosper offered £650 plus £30 petrol money, well above the asking price of £450, and arranged to meet the seller in the car park near his family home on September 12, the day before he used the gun to murder his mother and two siblings.

Bedfordshire Police said it has investigated the seller and no crimes have been committed by them.

A CCTV still of Nicholas Prosper carrying a long dark holdall bag while waiting for a lift up to the flat where he lived — A CCTV still of Nicholas Prosper returning to the family home carrying the shotgun in a large holdall (Bedfordshire Police/PA)

Those wanting a schedule one firearm, such as a rifle, have to have a “good reason” to own the weapon but shotgun applicants do not have to, provided the police are happy that they are fit to hold a gun licence.

Home Office guidelines say the applicant has to show that they need the firearm on a regular basis for work, sport or leisure.

Convicted criminals sentenced to at least three years in prison are automatically barred from owning a firearm or ammunition at any time, and licences may also be refused if there are other concerns about someone’s behaviour or mental health.

Applicants for firearms certificates are also subject to vetting by police including interviews, home visits, criminal records and references.

Firearms licensing in England and Wales was heavily criticised by a coroner in the wake of a mass shooting in Keyham, Plymouth, in August 2021.

Loner Jake Davison killed his mother Maxine, Lee Martyn, 43, and his three-year-old daughter Sophie, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66, before shooting himself.

Following the inquest into his death, coroner Ian Arrow called for root and branch reform of UK gun laws.

They accused police of granting him a licence to kill.

New firearms training for all licensing staff was introduced in the wake of the tragedy and came into force in November last year, with the aim of making decisions more robust.

Those applying for a gun licence must also provide medical information to the police.

Semi-automatic weapons were banned in the UK in 1988 after Michael Ryan killed 16 people in Hungerford, and ownership of most handguns was later made illegal following the 1996 Dunblane shooting, when Thomas Hamilton killed 16 schoolchildren and a teacher.