A former SAS soldier has been jailed for possessing weapons and ammunition.

A 9mm self-loading pistol, ammunition, four Enfield pistols and a rifle component were found at Albert Patterson’s house in Hereford, the Hereford Times reported. The 65-year-old was jailed for 15 months at the city’s Crown Court.

He had already admitted three firearms offences, possessing prohibited ammunition and possessing ammunition without a certificate.

West Mercia Police said Patterson was arrested in January last year and charged in December. Two charges of possessing a prohibited weapon and a second charge of possessing ammunition without a certificate will remain on file following Wednesday’s hearing.

Former SAS soldier Lofty Wiseman who helped train Patterson, described him as a “good lad” who had been naive. “He broke the law unfortunately. He had to get punished,” he said. “If he wanted a weapon as a keepsake, you could have had it de-activated, but by having a weapon, a serviceable weapon and ammunition, I think it’s the ammunition that’s really been the nail in the coffin. “If you have a weapon in a house with ammunition, there’s always that temptation… you can never say you’re going to use it but different circumstances, state of mind, if it’s there, it can be used so that’s where you must have laws.”