Former soldier jailed over arsenal at Ystradgynlais home

A former soldier who pointed a Colt revolver at his partner’s head and then at himself has been jailed for seven years.

Christopher Wright, 41, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on Friday, October 2. He had admitted 15 offences connected to a collection of weapons kept at his home on Heol Giedd, Ystradgynlais. The haul included revolvers, shotguns, a rifle, two Samurai swords and an AK-47.

The search

Officers went to the property after an incident on February 22 this year. Prosecutor Craig Jones described what they found:

“A search found weapons in generally accessible locations like a bedroom, garden shed and a glass-cased IKEA cabinet.”

The shed held revolvers and shortened shotguns. A rifle and a shotgun were kept in the cabinet. Wright had buried military-style ammunition boxes in the garden to store some of his guns, and a handgun was found in one of them.

He had also set up a tripwire device in the garden as a home-made alarm. It used a blank shotgun shell.

How it escalated

Mr Jones told the court the pair met in November 2024. Within a month, he said, the relationship had become “toxic”. After she moved into Wright’s home in 2025, she felt “increasingly isolated from family and friends”.

“In December, 2025, he began buying a large number of firearms and started making his own ammunition,” the prosecutor said.

“He used threats of suicide, with firearms used in these threats. He produced a Colt revolver, pointed it at her head and then himself, with the hammer drawn back. She froze in fear.”

She ended the relationship after that incident.

Pleas and previous convictions

Wright had at first denied every charge. He later pleaded guilty to 15 offences, including:

possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence
possessing a firearm without a certificate

He denied a charge of controlling or coercive behaviour, which will remain on file.

The court heard he already had convictions for possessing ammunition and a prohibited weapon.

The defence case

Hashim Salmman, defending, said his client’s best mitigation was his guilty pleas and the gap in his record. Most of his offending had happened when he was young.

“He joined the Army at 19 and served in Iraq, before he left in 2009,” Mr Salmman said.

“He is Open University computer science qualified and has held responsible posts in the logistics industry.

“He was made redundant in 2023 and lost a stabling factor in his life. The impact of the defendant’s background cannot be understated.”

Sentencing

Judge Catherine Richards said Wright had shown “disturbing and paranoid” behaviour.

“The offences are aggravated by being committed in a domestic context,” she said.

“An increasing use of drugs was affecting your mind. Weapons were stored by someone whose mental health and paranoia was deteriorating.”

The sentence breaks down as follows: