Woodhall Spa mustard gas defendant admits gun charges

A man who admitted illegally possessing mustard gas, following "a major incident", has also pleaded guilty to having two machine guns.

About 150 canisters of the noxious gas were unearthed in and around Roughton Woods, near Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, in October 2017.

Martyn Tasker is one of three people who have pleaded guilty to a breach of the Chemical Weapons Act.

He admitted the further offences when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court.

Tasker had been due to stand trial on charges relating to a MKII Bren light machine gun and a MKIII Bren light machine gun on 4 October 2017, the court heard.

Following the discovery of mustard gas at the former World War Two military base specialists were brought in by the Ministry of Defence and the area was sealed off for a fortnight.

The subsequent clean-up operation cost almost £300,000, the court heard.

All three defendants previously admitted possessing mustard gas canisters between 27 September and 1 October 2017, and breaching environmental laws by discharging the substance in nearby Stixwould Lake.

Tasker will be sentenced at a later date alongside his wife, Michaela Tasker, also of Longdales Road, Lincoln, and Stuart Holmes, of Witham Road, Woodhall Spa.

Mustard gas was used as a weapon during World War One and outlawed by the Geneva Protocol of 1925.

The military shut down RAF Woodhall Spa, which had been a satellite of the main RAF Coningsby site, in the mid-1960s.

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk