A SWINDON man bought two flick knives from the Netherlands and said he thought it was “legit” when told it was illegal by police.

Daniel McCabe, of Sheringham Court, Liden Drive, purchased the weapons from an “international marketplace” and had them shipped to the UK.

The packages, which the seller had claimed were pencil cases, were flagged at Heathrow as potentially containing weapons, and when searched were seized.

The 51-year-old was then arrested two months later.

He was convicted of knowingly being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a restriction on the importation of a prohibited weapon after a trial on Monday, having failed to attend.

Prosecutor Roxy Cole told the court that the defendant had purchased the two knives from the online site Wish on October 7, 2020. He had paid a total of £54.36.

Flick knives, also known as switchblades, are illegal to possess, sell hire or import in the UK.

They are operated by pressing a button, and according to Ms Cole, are only used in "fighting".

The two parcels had arrived at Heathrow’s International Logistics Centre on October 27 and 29, 2020, one of which had routed via China. Both were intercepted and seized.

McCabe’s details were taken and passed on to Wiltshire Police, which conducted an early morning raid on his Liden address on December 14 of that year.

Laptops and smartphones were seized, and according to PC Prince, one of the officers who conducted the raid, McCabe said when challenged: “I ordered them from Wish, I thought they were legit.”

Ms Cole said: “The Crown opens the case on the basis that you can’t buy this anywhere whatsoever.

“He’s bought this on an open international marketplace. These weapons are illegal in America, Australia. They are used for one use, in fights, they’re not ornamental.”

Magistrates found McCabe guilty in his absence, and issued a warrant for his arrest.

Earlier, Ieuan Callaghan, who went on to withdraw as his advocate, had argued for the trial to be delayed to allow McCabe one more opportunity to attend.

He said that he had “significant difficulties” and that his firm had given him a wrong date on two occasions.

But magistrates found that it was in the interests of justice for the case to proceed, as he had been present in court when the trial date was set.

Chair of the bench, Mina Searles, said: “[It was] not an easy decision, and on balance we think it is in the interest of justice to proceed.

“Taking all of this into consideration and that the offences are nearly two years old now we want to proceed in his absence.”