A police firearms officer showed a jury in a gun smuggling trial how a pistol, similar to one alleged to have been imported in bits, could be assembled.

PC Simon Dell, of West Yorkshire Police, demonstrated how the ‘Baby’ Glock gun could be put together from five parts – the handgrip, top slide, barrel, spring and magazine.

He walked across the courtroom to show members of the jury the completed weapon, telling them “there’s no ammunition in it,” and comparing it with the larger Glock 17 self-loading pistol issued to him by the force.

PC Dell said the Glock 26 was used by bodyguards and was a favoured weapon of terrorism because it was easy to conceal.

He said it was a semi-automatic weapon, holding ten rounds and firing single shots. But he said it emptied the magazine quickly.

The officer was giving evidence on the second day of the trial at Bradford Crown Court of four women and three men.

Damian Waite, 25; Shauna Kilkenny, 19, and Andrea Burton, 33, both of Haycliffe Lane, Little Horton, Bradford; Shazia Hussain, 23, of Pannal Street, Great Horton, Bradford; Raees Khan, 33, of Folkestone Street, Bradford Moor; Akbar Sultan, 23, of Baring Avenue, Bradford Moor; and Michelle Cheung, 19, of Adel, Leeds; all plead not guilty to the importation of firearms.

Five other men have pleaded guilty to possessing firearms with intent to endanger life.

Prosecutor Peter Moulson QC has alleged a transatlantic police investigation uncovered a well-planned, organised and determined conspiracy to import Glock pistols from Texas, USA, to the UK, particularly Bradford and Leeds.

A network of receivers was set up at addresses in Bradford and Leeds, and in July last year three packages, bound for two addresses in Bradford, were intercepted at East Midlands Airport. They contained parts for two 9mm calibre Glock self-loading pistols, it was alleged.

Yesterday Jason Thompson told the court he had been asked to collect parcels, but had declined. But he said Damian Waite had agreed to do so.

His brother, Colin Barrett, told the court Waite, a long-standing friend, had changed dramatically after suffering a fractured skull and brain injury in an assault.

He said after the attack he would slur his words and was gullible.

“If someone asked him to do something, he would do it,” Mr Barrett said.

The trial continues.