Overview

• Zoe Watts was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court to eight years and six months in prison for attempting to manufacture a semi-automatic weapon using a 3D printer, with a requirement to serve half the term before release on licence.
• Prosecutors described the case as the United Kingdom’s first conviction for the home production of a prohibited firearm with 3D-printing technology.
• Officers from Lincolnshire Police discovered a 3D printer, completed gun parts and an extensive arsenal during a December search prompted by reports of illegal material purchases.
• Judge Simon Hirst acknowledged Watts’s neurodivergence and transgender identity as factors that would make custody difficult but prioritized public safety in imposing the custodial sentence.
• Watts’s prior 2021 convictions for explosives and prohibited weapons possession highlight ongoing concerns about recidivism and the need for adaptive policing strategies.