A Norfolk firearms dealer, who helped supply weapons to a parish council chairman - amassing the biggest hoard of illegal weapons ever uncovered in the UK - has been jailed for six years.

Anthony Buckland, 65, from Stoke Holy Cross, was convicted of supplying a gun to James Arnold, who had more than 400 weapons, including rifles, machine guns and an anti-tank missile, along with 200,000 rounds of ammunition at his home in Wyverstone, Suffolk,

Arnold, 49, was facing charges, but died from cancer before going to court.

Buckland, a registered firearms dealer, was convicted of supplying one of the firearms found at Arnold's home in a secret arms room at his home. Buckland was also convicted of selling weapons, which had supposedly been converted to make them legal, but in fact were still prohibited and also fraud charges relating to the sale of the weapons.

Buckland had pleaded not guilty but was convicted of all charges following a trial.

Jailing him for six years, Judge Stephen Holt said that the firearms offences came to light following the police raid on Arnold's address, in April 2014.

'When police searched Jim Arnold's home they found a vast collection of firearms in a secret room, which could only be accessed by crawling through a safe.'

He said that Buckland had supplied Arnold with some of the weapons legally, but there was also one illegal weapon found which he had supplied.

Judge Holt said he was only sentencing him for the part he played and added: 'Not the vast collection of illegal weapons Mr Arnold had.'

Buckland was also convicted of having a Victorian shotgun disguised as a walking stick.

He was also convicted of selling semi-automatic rifles which he had converted to single-shot weapons, but were in fact still prohibited..

'You were a practising gunsmith with many years experience. A great deal of trust had been placed in you and it is quite clear you abused that trust and placed your customers at considerable risk.'

He accepted that Buckland was in poor health and was a 'utterly broken man' because of the convictions. Buckland shook uncontrollably as sentence was passed.

Michael Clare, for Buckland, said :'He cannot be held responsible for Mr Arnold's collection and whatever else Mr Arnold had, is a matter between him and the police. Only one gun is said to have come from him.'

He said the walking stick was one which had been handed into him and he had not had time to register it.

He said that police often asked him to take in items of the kind and they would then be deactivated or destroyed.

Mr Clare said that Buckland had believed the weapons he converted were legal and had sought advice about the matter.

He had offered to pay back all the customers who had bought such a weapons from him: 'He is an utterly broken man. He is broken financially. He has lost his reputation. His lifelong association with firearms is over. He will never deal with firearms again. He will never handle firearms again.'

Outside court Det Supt Steven Mattin said: : 'The scale of what was discovered at Wyverstone was quite extraordinary and ultimately turned out to be the largest cache of weapons held by an individual ever found in the United Kingdom.'

'Although we will never know the full reasons how and why James Arnold built up this huge arsenal of weapons, we were at least able to identify Anthony Buckland as someone dealing in illegal firearms as part of this investigation. I am pleased with the sentence handed down to Buckland today and hope it serves as a warning to those involved in the illegal supply of weapons that this is a highly dangerous practice and if caught they face significant prison terms. nthony Buckland from Stoke Holy Cross was convicted of supplying a firearm which was part of the large haul including machine guns, shotguns and rifles found at a house in Wyverstone, between Diss and Stowmarket.

The owner of the property was James Arnold, 49, who was arrested in connection with the find but died of cancer, aged 49, while awaiting trial.

Norwich Crown Court heard that Buckland sold some of the prohibited guns.

Buckland was also convicted of selling weapons which he incorrectly claimed had been converted and made legal to other customers.

Jailing him on Friday, Judge Stephen Holt said: 'When the police searched Jim Arnold's home they found a vast collection in a secret room which could only be accessed by crawling through a safe.

'But you are to be sentenced for what the jury convicted you of and not the vast collection of firearms that Mr Arnold had.

'In your profession a great deal of trust had been placed in you and it is quite clear you abused that trust.'