A prisoner is standing trial for running a business from his prison cell importing sub-machine guns and ammunition from Germany using a stashed cell phone.

Wandsworth prison inmate Alexander Mullings, 24, is on trial with two other men and two women between the ages of 19 and 55, who all face charges of conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons and ammunition.

The Old Bailey heard today that police found records of telephone communications between Mullings and each of the defendants at the same time as two parcels containing two Scorpion machine guns were arriving in the UK.

A cell phone was seized from Alexander Mullings in the prison on June 19.

Evidence from the phone showed he used Youtube to search for footage of the Czech-made weapons which can fire 850 rounds a minute and which featured in the Matrix and The Dark Knight movies.

Metropolitan Police Trident officers recovered three sub-machine guns, ammunition and magazines between April and June this year, a jury at the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

The first weapon, a Scorpion sub-machine gun, was recovered from a semi-detached house in Commonside East, Mitcham, after a midnight raid by armed police in April.

Giving evidence in court yesterday, PC Patrick Ryan, a firearms officer who was at the raid, told the court how police executed a search warrant at the house just after midnight on Saturday, April 12.

Armed with tasers and guns and wearing full plastic helmets, PC Ryan was among officers who covertly approached the property.

He described how Spencer Inglis, who lived at the house, suddenly opened the door as police prepared to barge through it.

The officer in front, carrying a bullet-proof shield to protect the police, shouted "armed police" before Inglis "slammed the door shut", PC Ryan said.

He said there was then "a lot of noise" inside the property, which was likely to have included shouts from two officers who had been stationed at the back of the house.

The officer described how he then ran down the right-hand side of the house, through some washing hanging on a line, and found Inglis and another man who appeared to be throwing things over an outbuilding.

PC Ryan said he used a light on his pistol to illuminate the men, pointed his gun at them and asked them to show their hands, which one man did, but not Inglis.

The officer said: "He was ignoring my instructions. I again shouted, 'get back'. He'd started to move towards me. I shouted, 'get on the f****** floor'."

He added: "I withdrew my pistol and brought it back towards my chest to make it harder for anyone to take hold of it. I struck my right hand on the male's chest and shouted at him to get back.

"Then both the males dropped to the floor."

Inglis was then handcuffed and put in a police vehicle. A neighbour later handed a mobile phone to the police, registered to Inglis, which they had seen hurtling through the sky before it landed under their hanging basket, the court heard.

PC Tim Hunkin, a territorial support officer who moved Inglis to another police vehicle, told the court Inglis said to him, "I'll find you on your day off and shoot you."

Eight other people in the house were also arrested.

Detective Constable Harvey Brooks, a Trident officer on duty that night, discovered the Scorpion sub-machine gun in a black rucksack by the backdoor entrance, the jury was told.

The gun was found inside a knotted Iceland carrier bag with two magazines, a bag of ammunition and a leather holster

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Commonside East, which backs on to Mitcham Common 

Police also intercepted a parcel being delivered to Woodstock Road in Finsbury Park on May 15. Inside, they found a Scorpion machine pistol, three magazines and 100 rounds of ammunition.

The third Scorpion machine gun was intercepted by police as it entered the UK at Parcelforce's depot in Coventry on June 19. The package also contained empty ammo magazines. Both packages were traced from a Parcelforce depot in Cologne, Germany.

On trial with Mullings and Spencer Inglis is Islington woman Sarah Anderson, who was arrested in May.

Emily Ciantar, 19, was also arrested in June after a number of mobile phones, including a Blackberry with images of guns, were seized from a property in Middleton Road, Sutton.

Finsbury Park man Joseph Macgillivray, 55, is also on trial.

His arrest followed a police search of his home in July, where various packages had been delivered. The court heard Macgillivray told officers he understood the packages contained porn.

The defendants have each denied conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons, conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to transfer ammunition.

The trial continues.