A GUN-OBSESSED primary school headteacher was jailed for four years after police uncovered a huge illegal arms stash at his home.

Martin Wynn Davies now faces the prospect of losing his job at Marchwiel village school Ysgol Deiniol.

The shooting enthusiast admitted 14 charges relating to 10 handguns, two rifles and ammunition - some of it designed to explode on impact.

He also asked for nine similar offences involving four handguns and five rifles to be taken into consideration.

Sentencing the 58-year-old at Mold Crown Court last week, Judge John Rogers QC said: 'I accept you had possession of these firearms and the ammunition because you are a collector of firearms and in particular relatively antique firearms.

'You had no intention of misusing them nor at any time did you attempt to do so. But you know that the intention of the legislation is to prevent weapons being in circulation.'

Describing the case as 'sad', the judge said Davies, of Bryn Hyfryd, Johnstown 'ran the risk of a burglary and these weapons being stolen'.

He added: 'I have to bear in mind your age. You are now 58 and when you have completed the sentence I have to impose it

is highly likely you will never be able to teach again.'

Ed Beltrami, prosecuting, told the court how police searched the garage and loft of Davies's elderly parents' home on April 3 this year.

They discovered nine handguns wrapped in curtains in a box in the garage. Two more handguns, six rifles and ammunition were recovered.

Davies was arrested and police searched his own home where they found a handgun, a revolver and a large amount of ammunition in a shed.

A carrier bag of ammunition was recovered from the garage. In his upstairs office police found 14 weapons kept legally locked in three cabinets.

In the loft were a number of air rifles, a shotgun and more ammunition. A box of ammunition was found in the boot of a car which Davies drove to school the previous day.

He said he wore a balaclava - also recovered by police - when shooting in the quarry when it was cold. The court heard Davies was extremely knowledgeable about firearms and gun legislation.

He admitted possessing all the weapons and said while licensed for 7,000 rounds of ammunition he actually had close to 12,000.

He legally held one handgun at a gun club and was a trained

range warden. Mr Beltrami said it was accepted the weapons were not used for any criminal activity.

The guns, including those Davies held legally, were signed over to the police for destruction.

Robert Trevor-Jones, defending, said his client enjoyed a long and successful teaching career and was well thought of.

Some 300 people signed a petition of support and a number of testimonials were written on his behalf.

The hearing was told Davies, who suffered heart problems last November, appreciated he had let his family down.

Mr Trevor-Jones said there was 'no hint of any inappropriate or criminal association or activity'.

He described his client as a model in the teaching profession who gave his all to the school which an inspection team placed in the top 10% in the country.

Mr Trevor-Jones said Davies was 'a man of integrity' whose hobby 'became something of a compulsion'.

Speaking after the hearing, Hywyn Williams, Wrexham Council's chief learning and achievement officer, said: 'Now that the proceedings are concluded and the case proven against Mr Davies, I will meet the governing body to discuss his future employment.'