An extraordinary criminal case has come to an end, in which the UK's largest illegal firearms stash was discovered in a sleepy Suffolk village, leading to the jailing of a Norfolk-based arms dealer with 'Walter Mitty' tendencies.
Fantasist and fraudster Anthony Buckland lived in a world of make-believe.
He even bestowed a knighthood on himself which he used to underpin his charade as a man of substance and breeding.
The self-styled Sir Anthony Buckland, of Mill Road, Stoke Holy Cross, also invented a fictitious military career for himself way beyond the reality of his actual army service.
Buckland, known as Buckers or Tony, even claimed to have served in the SAS. The truth, it appears, is he never rose beyond the rank of lance corporal in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers.
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A 62-year-old man, who did not want to be named, but who has lived in Stoke Holy Cross for about 30 years, said: 'He's always seemed a bit of a Walter Mitty, a bit of a dodgy character to me.
'He was not particularly popular in the village. You would have to go a long way to find anyone who had a good word to say about him, especially in the gun shooting fraternity.
'Whatever he said I took with a pinch of salt because there was not much proof of anything.
'I think (he said) his father was one of the founder members of the SAS and he lived on that reputation for a lot of years.
'Business-wise I don't think he ever did much good. His first wife used to keep him and the second probably kept him as well.
'He always did different things with diving schools that took people down on diving trips but nothing ever seemed to make any money.'
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A senior figure in the SAS is said to have been incensed when he was informed of Buckland's false claim to membership of the world-renowned elite regiment. Buckland also claims to have been made an MBE, yet he was never given the honour. A false citation for the MBE is understood to have hung on his office wall.
One lie begat another. He even convinced a former senior member of the British army to issue a character reference for him in court.
At a Brass in the Park event in the grounds of Bergh Apton Manor in Norfolk in 2008 Buckland proudly wore a formal white dress jacket adorned with medals on his chest, looking every inch a military gentleman.
He was brought up at Franks Hall, an Elizabethan country house in Horton Kirby, Kent, where his late father was the estate manager.
He said he had joined the army in 1969 as an armourer with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. However, other sources have him enlisting in 1971.
On the completion of his military career Buckland said he formed A R Buckland Gunsmiths with his father at Stoke Holy Cross in Norfolk.
He then diversified the business to include diving and related equipment which he claimed was one of the skills he acquired during his military service.
But eventually reality caught up with him.
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