A man accused of being involved in a transatlantic gun smuggling ring told a Court he thought he was helping an acquaintance to receive stolen laptops.

Akbar Sultan, 24, is on trial with two other men and four women, after police smashed a plot to send Glock pistols in packages from Texas to Bradford.

A network of receivers was set up at addresses in Bradford and Leeds, and in July last year three packages, bound for Bradford, were intercepted at East Midlands Airport, the trial at Bradford Crown Court has heard.

They allegedly contained parts for two Glock pistols.

Sultan told the court yesterday he had been asked, by his acquaintance Feroz Khan, to provide an address to which laptops could be delivered, outside Bradford and Leeds. He spoke to someone he knew in the Pontefract area who agreed his address could be used and on April 6 this year he received a text saying a package had arrived, the court heard.

Sultan, 23, of Baring Avenue, Bradford Moor, said after the package was collected Feroz Khan pulled out a DVD player, removed its front casing and removed two gun magazines.

He said he had been offered money to find an address to which laptops could be delivered, and agreed because he “didn’t have a penny” to his name.

When he found out firearms parts were involved he did not ring the police because he feared for his life, he said.

Opening the case, prosecutor Peter Moulson QC had told jury the conspiracy began when Mohammed Tariq, of Thornton Road, Bradford, was in contact with a man called Scotdale Liburd in the US in 2009, to import a Taser.

Raees Khan, 33, of Folkestone Street, Bradford Moor, is also accused of importation of firearms. When asked by his barrister Freda Hussain yesterday if he was part of an agreement to commit such an offence, he replied: “No.”

He said friend-of-a-friend Atique Arif, of Mannheim Road, Heaton, had borrowed his phone on occasions, but Raees Khan thought he had wanted to ring his family.

Evidence has shown Arif, who has pleaded guilty to possessing firearms with intent to endanger life, used the phone to call Liburd, the court heard.

When asked whether he knew of Liburd, Raees Khan replied: “No.”

The seven people on trial deny the importation of firearms.

They are: Damian Waite, 25, whose address cannot be disclosed for legal reasons; Shauna Kilkenny, 19, and Andrea Burton, 33, both of Haycliffe Lane, Little Horton, Bradford; Shazia Hussain, 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.

Tariq, Arif, have pleaded guilty to possessing firearms with intent to endanger life and Feroz Khan, 24, of Killinghall Drive, Bradford, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possessing firearms with intent to endanger life.

Five other people have admitted charges relating to the plot.

The trial continues.