A gun used in Scottish shootings has been identified as the most prolific weapon ever traced by police in the UK.
The Beretta 9000 pistol – first used on the outskirts of Glasgow in 2010 – has been involved in more firearms incidents than any other known weapon.
After 19 shootings in just seven years, the gun – named “Link Series 4” by police – is off the streets.
But sophisticated ballistics forensics and police intelligence have been able to trace the journey the weapon has taken over the past decade – in the hands of drug dealers and organised crime gangs.
It was first used in Erskine, Renfrewshire, when it damaged a post. That week, it was fired at no obvious target in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde.
DCI Steve Reardon of Merseyside Police, whose team eventually traced Link Series 4, said of the Scottish shootings: “We think it’s likely the gun was being test fired.”
The self-loading pistol then moved south or was passed to someone else in the Liverpool area.
Between 2010 and 2014, it was used in 16 shootings, mainly in the Kirkby, West Derby and Anfield areas. In four cases, people were injured.
Police in Liverpool had a suspect in relation to a 17th shooting at a Kirkby shopping centre which left a victim injured.
Local man Adam Bigley was arrested and released. He remained a key character in the operation.
The final evidence came for detectives in July 2017 when Bigley’s associate was shot.
The next day, officers watched as members of the Wavertree-based criminal group, led by James Lunt, and members of a Kirkby-based group including Bigley met in a playground.
Arrangements were made to exchange the gun between gangs and police raided Bigley’s home hours later.
The gun was found behind a toilet. Bigley was arrested, convicted and imprisoned.
Fifteen other people have been sentenced as part of this operation to take the weapon of the streets.
